


Song Of The Crystal Gems

by terminatoreagle



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26638486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terminatoreagle/pseuds/terminatoreagle
Summary: The members of SONG are no strangers to weird stuff coming into their lives. Still, when Hibiki Tachibana and Chris Yukine were sent to investigate the crash site of a strange spacecraft, meeting three alien gem-women was the last thing they expected. Meanwhile, Steven Universe finds himself in the clutches of a malevolent organization and befriends a trio of monster girls.
Relationships: Akatsuki Kirika/Tsukuyomi Shirabe, Kohinata Miku/Tachibana Hibiki, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was helped by "The Name of Love" on spacebattles, I have many thanks for their help.

Today was a glorious day for Director Dante, the head of the German branch of the Bavarian Illuminati. Last year, the Illustrious leaders had entrusted her with half of the Gjallarhorn relic to uncover its secrets. Countless hours spent studying and experimenting had yielded very little until now. But then, just when Dante was about to throw in the towel, her hard work was rewarded by a brilliant green glow and amazing extra-dimensional readings unlike any she’d seen before. This was her moment!  
  
In a bright flash, a young, plump boy appeared on the ground. He wore a salmon-pink t-shirt with a yellow star in the center, blue jeans, and red sandals. His shirt was drawn up slightly, revealing a large pink jewel in his belly button. He lay on the ground, unconscious. To the untrained eye, he appeared to be a normal kid, but the readings he gave off showed him to be anything but.  
  
At Dante’s orders, the Alchemists quickly detained the boy and took him out of the room the relic was residing in. They then placed him on a gurney and wheeled him to the examination room to give him a proper examination.  
  
XXXX  
  
Dusk was fast approaching the Land of the Rising Sun when a sudden bright green glow shone from the secret facility near the base of Mt. Fuji. Not a moment later, in a flash of light, a red alien spacecraft appeared out of nowhere. It picked up speed, falling from the sky like a brick, until it crash-landed in the middle of the forest with a great explosion. A crater fifty meters wide formed in the ground around the wrecked craft. The ground was scorched by the impact. From the shattered craft, four beautiful gemstones flew out, landing a few meters away from the crash site. They pulsed with a beautiful glow, letting out alien energy before their light faded.  
  
XXXX  
  
A few hours later, Dante was in her office, reading some reports from other branches of the Illuminati, when a knock came from her office door. “You may enter.”  
  
One of her subordinates, a balding man in a white lab coat, came walking inside the office and gave a bow. He had a clipboard in hand. “Director, we’ve done a basic analysis. Overall, he appears to be a normal human boy. He does have some… differences.”  
  
One of Dante’s eyebrows was raised in curiosity. “Like what?” She asked.  
  
The man took a deep breath. “Well, his physiology is much, much stronger than normal. Denser muscles and bones, tougher skin, and life energy far greater than any human boy ought to have. Almost like he has a Perfect Body.”  
  
At that, Dante’s eyes widened in shock. “Incredible! To think that such a specimen would fall into our lap!”  
  
The subordinate could only sigh at her disbelief, knowing that it would get stranger. “And that’s not all. The gem in his navel produces an energy that is similar to Aufwachen Waves, but it’s unlike that of any known relic.”  
  
At this, Dante could only look at her subordinate in shock before her eyes took on a more calculated and greedy look.  
  
The subordinate sweated a bit. ”Director,” he said nervously. “What are your plans for the specimen?”  
  
Dante had her hands in front of her face, “We need to know what the specimen is capable of, and see if we can replicate its possible abilities. Since we only have one specimen, we ought to run the usual tests. Send the specimen to the Monster DIvision so it can be evaluated properly.”  
  
“Director, are you sure that's a wise idea?” He asked, a bit perturbed. “We don’t know anything about this boy. His interaction with the Monsters could produce some negative effect.”  
  
Dante had an annoyed look in her eyes, making her subordinate flinch. She then settled down and said, “It doesn't matter. The Monsters are failures anyhow. I doubt that they would make any difference. Do what you are told and send it to its destination!”  
  
The subordinate gave Dante a salute and went off to inform the crew to send the specimen. When Dante was alone in her office, she leaned back on her chair with a gleam in her eyes. She could already taste her promotion.  
  
XXXX  
  
The few months since the frontier incident and the retrieval Nastaja’s body from the shattered moon had been relatively peaceful. During the interim, the Second Division of the Special Disaster Squad had been reorganized into SONG, a new organization under UN supervision.  
  
A man with brown hair, Fujitaka Sakuya, was just glad that it had been a relatively peaceful few months since, with no crisis happening. The support member stretched his arm after drinking some tea Tomosato Aoi, his blue-haired coworker, had brought for him.  
  
“This is nice,” he said as he reclined in his chair a bit while continuing to fill out the report on his computer. “No major incidents in the last few months. I hope this continues until I retire.”  
  
Just as he said this, the mission command began sending him a new alert. Some unknown energy signatures from the Honshu region, at the base of Mount Fuji, were detected. While it was already a cause for concern, there were two more issues. First, the base that held half of the Gjallarhorn relic was within three miles of the crash. Second, the wave patterns the readings gave off were similar to Aufwachen Waves, meaning that some new relics might have been activated. With a groan, Fujitaka just put his face in his palm. “Me and my big mouth. Time to call the commander…”  
  
XXXX  
  
One hour after Fujitaka alerted the commander, a team of helicopters landed at the crash. Two girls came out of one helicopter. One had white hair, purple eyes, and an annoyed expression. The other girl had cream-colored hair with bright orange eyes that held excitement in them. Both of them were wearing their brand-new, blue SONG uniforms.  
  
“Chris-chan, what do you think happened here!?” asked the excited teen.  
  
Yukine Chris’s left eye began twitching at the question. “Idiot, for the last time, none of us know yet! Now stop asking that question!” Chris yelled while punching the idiot in the arm.  
  
With a sheepish grin on her face, the teenage girl, Tachibana Hibiki, put her hand behind her hair. “Heh, heh, sorry Chris-chan!” At that, Chris just puffed out some air from her lungs in exasperation.  
  
“Let’s just get this job done. We have class tomorrow.” Chris stated while she walked to the ledge of the crater and began sliding down the slope.  
  
The other teen just grumbled out, “I just hope we stay here then.” Chris rolled her eyes. That explained the idiot’s excitement then. An idiot that didn’t particularly like school, what a shock. Glancing behind her, she saw Hibiki climb out and slide down the slope after her.  
  
When the teenager caught up to Chris, the girl was already talking to a SONG agent about what they found so far. The agent began by reporting, “Ma’am, the unknown device appears to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen, though it’s not producing the Aufwachen Waves we were detecting earlier.”  
  
Chris just groaned at the information. “I figured. But we’re good with dealing with the unexpected though.” She then turned to look around. “Well, the Aufwachen Waves were here around an hour ago, right? So they can’t be too far.”  
  
Chris turned around to order Hibiki when she saw her partner examining what appeared to be an alien spacecraft in wonder. Though Chris would usually yell at the other girl for getting distracted, she’d give her a pass this time. Even Chris had to admit that what little remained of the ship was incredibly advanced. But they had a job to do. They could gawk later.  
  
Chris dragged the other girl by the arm away from the wreckage. “Come on idiot, let the investigators do their job. We have our own mission.”  
  
Hibiki whined, ”Oh, come on Chris-chan, just five more minutes! We might never see one like this again!”  
  
“We’ll have plenty of time to look at it later!” Chris yelled at the girl before letting her go. Hibiki just sighed and began to follow Chris when she spotted something sparkle under some rubble out of the corner of her eye.  
  
“Hey, wait a minute. I think I saw something!” Hibiki yelled as she ran towards the rubble with Chris on her heels. She then pushed aside the rocks and pebbles to reveal something beautiful in the ground. “Gemstones?” She questioned while picking the purple one up, looking at it in confusion.  
  
Chris managed to catch up, picked up the pale one in similar confusion. “I’m no gemologist, but I’m pretty sure pearls don’t form on land.” She then glanced at the one Hibiki was holding before eyeing a sapphire and ruby on the ground, each perfectly cut. “And I’m pretty sure freshly mined gemstones don’t look like that,” She concluded with suspicion in her voice.  
  
“Chris-chan, don’t these feel warm to you-!” The girl asked before being interrupted by four bright lights from the gemstones. The two humans jumped back a bit, dropping the gems in the process. The duo also put their hands on their necklaces, just in case they needed to transform.  
  
Soft light formed around each of the gemstones as they floated in the air. Then, the light seemed to solidify, somehow taking shape. Then, before their stunned eyes, the lights surrounding the floating gemstones molded themselves into female forms. Then, the female forms fully solidified, and their features could be clearly seen.  
  
The purple gem had now become a small, chubby girl with a white shirt and long, white hair. The gemstone was located on her chest, above where her lungs should be. She looked around at her surroundings, confusion clearly written on her face.  
  
The pearl turned into a thin lady slightly taller than Hibiki and Chris. She wore a blue tunic with yellow shorts underneath. She had a long nose, and her gem was on her forehead. She looked around the place nervously yet vigilantly until her gaze locked onto the two humans.  
  
The ruby and the sapphire, meanwhile, formed into one woman, each gem appearing in the woman’s hands. This one towered over the other two gem-woman and was built like a brick. She had maroon skin, wore shades over her face, and had a square-shaped afro. She stared stoically at the two humans, studying them.  
  
The two groups looked at each other with caution and confusion in their eyes, both as quiet as a leaf blowing in the wind. The rest of the SONG operatives saw what happened and gathered around and pointed their guns at the strange people. Judging by the way the gem-women hardly gave the other humans any mind, Chris had a feeling that those guns would be useless against them.  
  
The pale one was the first one to talk. “We’re on Earth? How! We were in the middle of space looking for - “ at that, her eyes widened in horror. She looked at the two girls in desperation “Excuse me, but you wouldn’t have happened to find a young human male around here would you?”  
  
Chris’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at the question. The lady looked honestly worried, but she wanted more information. So she asked, “And why are you asking that? Why was he in space in the first place!?”  
  
“Oh, um, well the details aren’t important but-” The pale one was interrupted by the short, purple one.  
  
“Basically, a bunch of evil aliens came and made us go to the moon, and he got launched into space trying to get rid of them.” She answered quickly, looking like she wanted to get the interrogation over with.  
  
“Amethyst!!” The pale one yelled at the smaller companion, now known as Amethyst.  
  
“Hey, they wouldn’t have believed us if we didn’t tell them, P.” Amethyst shrugged, looking like she thought she made the right choice.  
  
“P” looked annoyed at the response. “That isn’t the point, Amethyst! We should have consulted as a team!”  
  
“It would have taken too long. Steven could still be in space!” Amethyst shot back at the taller gem-woman.  
  
However, the two stopped their squabble when the maroon lady put her hands on their shoulders. “You two need to calm down. We’re going to need to share information with these humans.” Amethyst had a grin on her face when the tallest lady continued, “But that doesn’t mean we should share everything.” At that Amethyst looked like she deflated a bit. Literally. Chris wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the eyes or not but figured that she would find out later.  
  
However, it was Tachibana Hibiki who broke the silence. “I think we got off on the wrong foot here! You care for that boy, right? Then I’m sure that it’s part of our job to help you!” She said with a calming smile on her face. She even took out a hand in offering to the strange aliens.  
  
The pale woman looked at the outstretched hand hesitantly, then looked up at the tall one for guidance. The maroon woman simply nodded at her assuringly. The pale woman reluctantly took the human’s hand in hers.  
  
Suddenly, the pearl in her forehead began lighting up and emitted a hologram that depicted a small, young boy who appeared to be eight years old. He had a shirt with a star in the middle and had curly hair. But the thing that stood out to them was that there was a gem that was where his naval should be. “Steven is our former leader’s son, and we are his guardians.” The pale woman answered. The urgency in her voice was apparent now. “Now you must understand why we have to find-” That was when she was interrupted by Amethyst.  
  
“What the actual hell!?” Amethyst said while looking past Chris and the other girl with wide eyes in disbelief. “P” looked at Amethyst in shock and annoyance.  
  
“Amethyst! What could cause you to interrupt me with that kind of language!!”  
  
“What the hell happened to the moon while we were gone?” Amethyst asked while pointing past the two girls. The woman looked at the direction Amethyst was pointing towards and soon adopted a flabbergasted look on her face. The tall, maroon one had a more subdued look of surprise on her face.  
  
The moon had a big crater at the bottom of it while there was a ring that was orbiting around the planetary object. The two girls looked back at the moon and the brown-haired one had soon adopted a sheepish look on her face while scratching the back of her head. “Oh, we might have caused that to happen.” She said with a nervous laugh.  
  
The three aliens looked at Hibiki like she grew a second head. The maroon one soon spoke with authority. “I think we should start over.”  
  
XXXX  
  
Vannessa could barely move her head, one of the only parts of her that was still human. At this point, all that was keeping her going were the two girls at either side of her. She wouldn’t even bother moving if it wasn’t for them.  
  
Vanessa Diodati was a tall, beautiful lady with dark skin and long, flowing black hair that reached to the bottom of her back. At one time, she had been an alchemist, one extremely close to achieving a Perfect Body. But a fateful accident during an experiment on a Faust Robe had deprived her of her human form, and with it, her future. Her body was replaced by a mechanical one, transforming her into an alchemical cyborg. As she could no longer achieve the perfection all alchemists strived for, she was stripped of her rank and treated as a mere guinea pig by the people she once worked alongside.  
  
To her right was Millaarc Cranstoun, a teenager of average height with pale skin, wild, dark-blue hair with a pink streak, and pointed ears. Her body was changed to mimic the abilities of a vampire. If the experiment had succeeded in transforming her into the mythical creature, it would’ve provided the Illuminati another avenue of obtaining eternal life. However, Millaarc had failed to achieve such heights and was thrown to the scrap heap as Vanessa had been.  
  
To Vanessa’s left was Elsa Bete, a young girl who was barely in her teenage years. Elsa was a short girl with pink hair and white fur. She also had wolf ears on the top of her head that functioned as real ears. Elsa’s DNA was changed by the scientists to include the DNA of various animals such as wolves, felines, and more. The Alchemists were trying to manufacture the legendary werewolf so they could amplify their army with Bioengineered humans, and while they had succeeded in creating a stable hybrid in Elsa, they were dissatisfied with the results and figuratively threw her to the wolves.  
  
While the three were able to live past their surgeries unlike many of the others, they were considered failures because they could not survive without the need of a rare type of blood,”RH-xxoyle” which replenishes the Panacea in their bodies. Without it, various toxins would accumulate in their system over time, leading to a slow and painful death.  
  
Currently, the three were resting from a long day’s worth of torture from the Alchemists responsible for gathering data from them. Vanessa looked at the younger girls while they slept, reflecting on her sorry state. _‘So this is how my life ends up… I worked for this sham of an organization for as long as I could remember, helping them achieve new developments, and_ _ **THIS**_ _is how they repay me for all my work? Treating me and these girls as less than human! Forcing us to be in those twisted experiments!‘_  
  
Vanessa looked at Millaarc and Elsa, with a determined look on her face. _‘Millaarc, Elsa, your Big Sister promises that we will escape this hellhole and get our original bodies back!’_  
  
Just then, the door that locked up the three of them opened, waking Millaarc and Elsa from their sleep. ‘ _Huh? It’s not time to continue our experiments yet… either they wanted more fun or…’_  
  
The Alchemists came in with a young, somewhat chubby boy with curly hair on a stretcher, unconscious. ‘ _Or someone new is here.’_ Vanessa looked at the kid with pity, hoping that he wouldn’t get too freaked from what would be his new body. The Alchemists left without a word to the three of them.  
  
Vanessa looked over the kid once more, looking for any obvious mutations like hers and Elsa’s, but it seemed like he was similar to Millaarc where the changes weren’t so obvious. She was about to go back to bed when the kid began waking up. ‘ _Huh, that was quicker than usual. I wonder why?’_  
  
The kid woke up, rubbing his head in pain. "Ugh, my head hurts.” The kid then looked at the three monster girls before getting out of his bed, looking around the room. "Who are you!?" The boy asked, a hint of unease in his voice.  
  
‘ _This brings back some memories…’_ Vanessa thought, looking at the kid, though she was a tad surprised he was able to get up after what he’d probably been through. When Millaarc and Elsa arrived, they were both scared, and the first thing they asked was where they were, not what their names were. It took a long time for them to trust Vanessa enough to tell her their names. At the commotion, Elsa and Millarc woke up looking all bleary-eyed.  
  
Elsa was the first to notice the newcomer. “O-oh, my name is Elsa! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” She introduced herself as she got out of her bed and rubbed her eyes. As she stepped down, she flinched somewhat from the phantom pain from their daily torture before standing up straight. When the boy looked at her, his eyes widened in awe.  
  
“Oh my gosh, you have wolf ears!” The boy dropped his guard, and walked over to the pink-haired girl, making Elsa feel nervous. Would he make fun of them? If so, she wouldn’t let him. She growled at the boy, her hair standing on end like a cornered dog, ready to retaliate for the inevitable scorn.  
  
But the boy completely turned her expectations on their head when he said,” they’re so cute!” His earlier anxiousness was gone now, completely absorbed by Elsa’s animal traits.  
  
 _‘Cute?’_ Elsa thought to herself. Nobody had called her that before. Elsa’s cheeks turned a faint red from the compliment. “O-oh, um thank you very much!” She replied.  
  
Millaarc decided that she should introduce herself. “Hey, brat! The name’s Millaarc. Don’t you forget it!” She said, her toothy smile making sure that her fangs were visible.  
  
The kid, however, didn’t seem to notice them and just waved at her happily, unflinching, “Hi there, Millaarc!” Millaarc just scratched her head, not getting how the kid could be so nonchalant about their predicament.  
  
Vanessa supposed she should get to the bottom of that. But first, she needed to introduce herself too. “And my name is Vanessa. What is your name?”  
  
The kid seemed to look like he was embarrassed for forgetting to introduce himself. “Oh! How could I forget? My name is Steven Universe!” He then put his hands on either side of his small frame, as if he were posing on the front of some comic book.  
  
“Universe? What a weird last name…” Elsa said, tilting her head. Her statement made Millaarc snort, trying to hold her laugh in.  
  
“Says the girl who changed her last name to ‘Bete’.” Millaarc teased, causing Elsa to glare at her. This only made Millaarc snicker.  
  
Vanessa just sighed, thinking it was nice to see the two girls act like normal teenagers for once. Vanessa saw Steven look confused out of the corner of her eye. He eventually asked, ”Where are we anyway?”  
  
Millaarc just crossed her arms underneath her breasts. “We’re in hell, kid,” she said bluntly. “Those damned alchemists trapped us down here so that we could be their guinea pigs.” Beneath her calm exterior, her eyes burned with hatred, a look which Elsa and Vannessa shared.  
  
Steven just tilted his head at the vampire, with a confused look on his face. “Who and what are you talking about?” He asked while scratching his head. He mumbled out, _“Alchemist? I feel like I’ve heard that word from a manga Connie told me about once.”_  
  
Elsa tilted her head, wondering if “Connie” was an acquaintance of Steven. However, Millaarc didn’t care about giving a proper explanation for it, instead, continuing to explain. “The Bavarian Illuminati is a secret organization of alchemists that spans across the world. Their goal is to achieve perfection, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it. We’re the failed results of their attempts. You’ll have to ask Vanessa about the details though. She’s the only expert here.”  
  
While Vanessa had taught both her and Elsa the basics of Alchemy, the lessons had been sporadic, as they often didn’t have enough energy to go into depth. They also had to make sure the alchemists don’t catch onto their little lessons, else they might terminate the trio.  
  
With a whisper as loud as a feather falling, Steven whispered out, _“So they’re like the forced fusion experiments?”_ A look of horror crossed his face. The thought that something so awful had taken place _again_ filled with a gnawing feeling of dread. Another tragedy had destroyed the lives of innocents. His heart went out to the three girls.  
  
Though Steven had meant for the whisper to be unheard, he might as well have shouted to Elsa. Elsa filed ‘forced fusions’ under her growing list of things to ask Steven about later. She yawned. She was tired from having woken up from her sleep so suddenly, so it was hard for her to stay awake as it was.  
  
Vanessa took a look at the three other experiments and gave a small smile at them, trying to make the best out of this hellish situation. “I recommend getting some sleep, you three. Tomorrow will be another day of _fun,_ so we best be prepared!”  
  
With a look of dread, the three teenagers got back to their beds to go to sleep. However, before they went to sleep fully, Steven said, “Have sweet dreams!” with a voice that carried his genuine belief that they could have nice dreams. It was naive to believe that, but Vanessa supposed that the sentiment was nice enough.  
  
He’d learn how foolish it was very soon though.


	2. Chapter 2

The test subjects of the Monster Division awoke to the loud crash of the automated metal doors opening. Five nondescript men walked into the room, pistols visible in the holsters in their belts. “Rise and shine, Monsters,” one of them said.  
  
The Monsters got out of their beds slovenly and automatically, resignation written on their faces. Time for another day of torture. Steven, the new test subject, rubbed his drowsy eyes, not sure what was happening. One of the armed men went behind Steven and poked the boy’s back with the barrel of his gun.  
  
Steven’s eyes widened when he realized what was happening. He looked around until he saw Vanessa, Millaarc, and Elsa being handcuffed. He remembered what they talked about last night and figured that the tests were starting. He raised his hands in surrender and got off his bed. He was soon handcuffed and lined up behind Elsa at the back of the line.  
  
Steven so sorely wanted to ask her about what’s going to happen, but one look at the armed officers with their guns at them dissuaded him.  
  
The guards wordlessly led the group out the door into the hallway. After a few agonizing minutes, they had reached a fork in the hallway. The guard in the back grabbed Steven’s shoulder harshly and stopped him from following the rest. As Steven looked up at the guard in fear, the officer wordlessly led the boy down the left hallway with his gun pointed at his back. Steven gingerly walked away from the rest of the group.  
  
Steven was eventually led down to what appeared to be a doctor’s office like the ones he saw in the hospital that Connie’s mom worked at. The doctor was a man who looked like he was nearing his forties, and had graying brown hair.  
  
The room had a medical examination bed on the wall, along with a blood-drawing chair on the opposite wall. The squinty-eyed doctor looked down at Steven with a smile on his face. Steven’s back stifled when the doctor looked at him like he was a new toy to break.  
  
“Subject 2418, I’m going to need you to sit in that chair over there. If you try any funny business, the nice man over there will take care of you. Understand?” The doctor asked in a calm tone.  
  
Steven gulped while nodding when the doctor finished. Steven didn’t quite like being treated like he was just a number. He briefly wondered if this was how Peridot, a small, green gem he became friends with, felt like when she reported to Yellow Diamond.  
  
The young boy was thinking about resisting and trying to make a break for it, but he thought of the girls who were surely being experimented on. ‘What if they punish those three after I escaped!? I can’t let that happen! But then, how will I make my escape?’ Steven’s thoughts whirled a million miles an hour as he sat down on the chair, trying to calm down so he could plan his escape.  
  
Then the doctor turned around, the grin on his face wider than before. He held a large, empty syringe in hand. “Time for some blood work,” the doctor said. Steven could only gulp in fear as he got closer.  
  
XXXX  
  
Hibiki, Chris, and the strange women were flying in a helicopter and were now headed towards the submarine that SONG used for their headquarters. The strange women asked questions about what Hibiki meant by “being responsible for the moon having a ring.” However, it looked like one of them didn’t believe the two humans.  
  
“You can’t expect us to believe that some woman planned to blow up the moon so she can talk to her God and that you managed to stop her. It sounds like something out of a cartoon Steven and Connie would watch!” Pearl said dismissively. Chris’s eyes twitched in annoyance.  
  
The two of them have been trying to convince the women that they were telling the truth for the last thirty minutes. Pearl, the pale one, did not believe a word they said. Amethyst barely paid attention, preferring to look down at the forest under them. And the tall, red-one, Garnet, sat silently and stared at the two girls in contemplation.  
  
As they spoke, SONG’s personnel were using a helicopter to airlift the spacecraft that the strange women had arrived in. With Pearl’s careful instruction, they made sure that no piece was left behind. She said that she intended to repair it later.  
  
“Well then, how would you explain the fucking moon being shattered!?” Chris responded to Pearl, the irritation in her voice apparent.  
  
Pearl gasped at Chris’s language, but before Pearl could reprimand the girl, Hibiki nervously amended with Pearl by saying, “W-we have videos of the Kadingir being fired, and it’s still standing! We could show it to you!” Hibiki chimed in, trying to break the argument the two were having while waving her hands in front of her face. Before the two arguers could react, the helicopter arrived at its destination.  
  
The helicopter began lowering near the docks of the pacific ocean. Soon, a submarine was visible to the group, floating in the water. The helicopter soon began lowering into the helipad on top of the submarine. After a few minutes, the helipad soon began shifting into the submarine, bringing the group inside it.  
  
After the helicopter had landed, the group disembarked from the aircraft onto the helipad and were greeted by a tall, muscular man with wild red hair and a goatee. He nodded his head to the two girls. “Hibiki-kun, Chris-kun, I suppose these are the women that appeared at the crash-site?” He asked, already knowing the answer.  
  
“Yes, Shisou! They looked so distressed, so I thought we should help them!” Hibiki answered with a grin on his face.  
  
The man sighed at Hibiki’s enthusiasm but gently patted the young girl’s head with a smile on his face. The man then turned at the three alien women with an easy-going grin on his face. “My name is Genjuro Kazanari, the commander of SONG, the Squad of Nexus Guardians. If you can follow me, I’m sure that we can find where your charge is.” He asked of them before he turned around and began walking down the hallway towards the bridge.  
  
Amethyst and Pearl looked up towards Garnet, to which she nodded at the two other Gems, and began following Genjuro. Amethyst just shrugged carelessly at Garnet’s nod and followed after them, with her arms behind her head. Meanwhile, Pearl looked more hesitant but followed suit anyhow.  
  
After a few minutes of walking down the submarine’s hallways, with the occasional stare from the crewmates, the group eventually made their way into the bridge of the submarine. It was a big room filled with men and women typing away on their computers while there was one big screen at the front of the room.  
  
“Huh, you have pretty cool toys here,” Amethyst mused while looking around the computers housed. She took in everything around her, trying to occupy the boredom she felt.  
  
Pearl nodded at Amethyst’s statement while she put her hand under her chin. “I haven’t seen humans use this level of technology before…” She mumbled to herself. Between this submarine and the computers on it, the technology SONG possessed was rather advanced for a human group.  
  
The man who reported the crash readings, Fujitaka Sakuya, turned around on his seat to look at the people entering the bridge. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of the three aliens but kept his mouth shut about that after a moment of consideration.  
  
“Commander, we have a report from the First Division. The Gjallarhorn relic activated at approximately the same time as the crash landing,” Fujitaka reported to Genjuro.  
  
Genjuro nodded while putting his hand under his chin in thought. He turned to the three Gems, and asked, “If I may ask, what was the last thing you remember?”  
  
Garnet stepped in front of the other two women and looked at Genjuro behind her visors. “We were searching in space and had just found Steven in our Roaming Eye, but before we could get him inside, there was a bright green flash. We then reformed at the hands of your two subordinates.” She answered stoically.  
  
“I see. That does coincide with the reports of nearby residents. They said that they saw a green flash in the sky before feeling a tremor caused by the crash landing. Add that with the activation of the Gjallarhorn relic at the same time, we can safely conclude that the relic was responsible for your arrival here.” Genjuro concluded while putting his fist in his palm. The three gems looked at the commander, a mixture of shock and contemplation on their faces.  
  
“So what does this “Gjallarhorn” relic do anyway?” Amethyst asked with her arms crossed under her gemstone. While she wasn’t as skeptical as Pearl of the two human girls having saved the planet, she does wonder if the relic was just a piece of Gem tech that the humans got control over and then named it something weird.  
  
A blue-haired woman, Tomosoto Aoi, rolled around in her chair. “We… aren’t entirely sure, to be honest. One of our previous scientists, Ryoko Sakurai, tried to activate it to no avail over many years before she passed away. This is the first time it has been activated in our records,” She answered with a hint of sheepishness on her face. She quickly turned back to her computer and brought up the relic in question onto the big screen in front.  
  
Pearl looked at the relic in careful analysis, but then sighed, shaking her head, “I don’t recognize that as Gem technology… but then what is it?” She wondered aloud.  
  
Garnet looked at the relic in question, then looked at Tomosoto. “We would like to see a map of the Earth please.” She said to the blue-haired woman, who nodded at the request. In a few short minutes, a world map had appeared on the screen. Pearl and Amethyst’s eyes widened when they saw the screen.  
  
“What is this!? The map looks completely different!” Pearl asked while yelling, not believing what was on the screen.  
  
With a curious look on her face, while tilting her head slightly, Hibiki asked the pale woman, “What do you mean? The world has always looked like this.”  
  
Pearl looked at the girl with her eyes widened. “What do you mean ‘always’!? The map should look like this!” Soon the gem on her forehead produced a holographic map of her own that was quite different from the one that was on the screen.  
  
“What the- why are there pieces of Africa and Russia missing!? And Australia doesn’t have a sea that divides it! What's going on here!?” Chris demanded answers from the three women.  
  
Garnet then answered her question. “It seems like my suspicions were correct.” Everyone looked at Garnet, questioning what she had to say. “It seems like we are on a parallel Earth.”  
  
Everyone looked at the maroon woman in shock, not quite believing the woman. Pearl, in disbelief, muttered out a question, “G-Garnet, are you sure? That seems a little far fetched, isn’t it?”  
  
Amethyst rubbed the back of her head in thought. “I don’t know P. Remember the future Stevens we saw? If time travel is possible, then I don’t see why traveling to parallel worlds would be different.”  
  
Pearl looked like she wanted to refute that, but after thinking it over for a moment, conceded to Amethyst’s point. “Perhaps…” she began.  
  
“Wait, time travel!?” Hibiki interrupted with an excited expression. “You mean that’s possible?” She was suddenly Amethyst’s face.  
  
“Yeah…. Honestly, I’m still not entirely sure what happened. One moment we were getting the hourglass that lets time travel happen, the next-” Amethyst tried to explain before Pearl covered her mouth.  
  
“Amethyst now’s not the time.” Pearl chastised the purple gem while shivering at the memory. Hibiki looked down, her feet kicking the ground in disappointment, while Chris just rolled her eyes at her. Pearl looked up at Garnet. “But that still doesn’t explain where Steven is! If we’re here, then surely Steven is, correct!?”  
  
Fujitaka raised his hand to get everyone’s attention, “If I may, remember that we only have one half of the Gjallarhorn relic. Your charge might have landed near wherever the other half is.”  
  
Pearl and Amethyst looked hopeful at the answer, with Amethyst asking, “So where is the other half!?” At that Fujitaka scratched the side of his cheek out of nervousness.  
  
“They don’t know where the other half of the Gjallarhorn relic is,” Garnet answered for the bridge member while looking down at the floor. Her body was tense, and fear appeared on her face for the first time. Pearl and Amethyst’s faces then turned into disappointment and more importantly, worry for Steven’s safety.  
  
Genjuro looked at the Gems with sympathy. “I’m sorry that your charge is missing. But know that we will do everything in our power to find Steven. You have my word!” Genjuro answered with a determined look on his face.  
  
Pearl looked at his face and gave a weak smile. “Thank you for your help, but we can’t just sit here and do nothing! I have to get back to the ship and repair it. It will help us look for Steven much faster!” Genjuro nodded at Pearl’s request and had a crewmate lead the woman to where the spacecraft was being held. Garnet followed after Pearl to assist the woman in the repair. However, Amethyst stayed on the bridge.  
  
“Huh, you’re not going with them, Amethyst-chan?” Hibiki asked the purple woman.  
  
“Nah, I’m not that good with that technology stuff. And I don’t think that it’s a good idea for me to go out looking for Steven by myself if Gems were never on this Earth. Ehehe…” Amethyst replied with a wave of her hand and a nervous chuckle. Hibiki looked at Chris briefly, turned back, and smiled at the purple gem.  
  
“Hey, why don’t you come to eat dinner with us in the cafeteria?” Hibiki invited her with a smile on her face. Amethyst eyes widened a bit before grinning.  
  
“Yeah, sure! I’m starving!” Amethyst answered while rubbing her stomach for emphasis.  
  
“Great! Just let me call Miku!” Hibiki said with a smile on her face before taking her phone out and dialed a number. “Hey, Miku, can you come over to SONG headquarters and have dinner with me, Chris, and a new friend? Oh, you were about to start making dinner!? Oh, I’m so sorry about that!”  
  
While Hibiki was talking on the phone, Amethyst turned to the other white-haired girl, and muttered: “So is this ‘Miku’ Hibiki’s girlfriend or something?”  
  
Chris put the palm of her hand onto her face, her eyes twitching in annoyance. “Not officially, but they are so obviously crushing on each other. It's so annoying to see them acting all lovey-dovey without them realizing it.” She muttered. Amethyst made a deadpan expression at the explanation.  
  
“Really!? Thank you so much!”, Oblivious to the conversation going on behind her, Hibiki hung up with a smile on her face. “She’ll be here in twenty minutes!” She looked at the faces of Chris and Amethyst with confusion. “Huh? What's wrong?” She asked.  
  
“Nothing, you idiot. Now let's get going to the cafeteria.” Chris said at the other girl before walking towards the cafeteria. Amethyst shrugged, and Hibiki chuckled lightly. The alien then followed suit and walked after the two humans.  
  
XXXX  
  
Steven was lying in the prison cell, dead tired from the tests he went through today. After they had drawn some of his blood with the syringe, they attached electrodes to his body and shocked him for hours on end until he almost passed out. It was so much more painful than the tingling sensation of the gem destabilizer prison cells back on the space hand Jasper and Peridot flew.  
  
The worst part was that the scientist just had a playful smile on his face the whole time. It was as if the scientist was a little kid with a magnifying glass, using the sun’s rays to kill the ants just to see what would happen, and Steven was the ant. While Steven usually hesitated to use the word, he could safely say that he hated that look.  
  
Thankfully, his healing spit had gone a long way to dull his pain. The burnt skin and shaking feeling he got from the electric shocks were gone now, leaving only some goosebumps. As he gathered himself, he sat on his bed, waiting for the Monsters to come back. He hoped they were alright.  
  
Just then, the Monsters entered the room, with guards behind them prodding them into the room. At first, Steven was happy until he saw the injuries that they had sustained. While Vanessa looked like she got off relatively unscathed, albeit, with a slight limp, Millaarc and Elsa weren’t so lucky.  
  
Elsa was currently in a wheelchair being pushed by a scientist. She had bandages bound tightly around her pelvis region. She was soon picked up and put on her bed.  
  
Millaarc seemed to have the worst of it though. She had bandages around her eyes, bloody marks visible from the outside. The guards roughly shoved Millaarc forward, making her trip over her own feet.  
  
When all the subjects were on the beds, the guards left without a word. After they left, without thinking, Steven immediately jumped off his bed to check up on the girls. “What did they do to you!?” He asked in both fear and worry for them.  
  
Vanessa and Elsa looked at him in shock, while Millaarc’s ears twitched at his voice. In disbelief, Vanessa asked, “Wait, how are you standing up so easily so fast!? It couldn’t be that long since your experiment!”  
  
“Huh? Oh, right you don’t know… I can heal! I can help you!” Steven said while walking up to Millaarc’s bed.  
  
“Brat, you have to be shitting me. There’s no way that the damn scientists would just stick you in here if you had that!” Millaarc yelled out to the young boy while turning her head towards the kid’s voice.  
  
“I really can! I’ll do it right now!” Steven huffed out while spitting saliva onto his hand.  
  
“Wait, did I just hear you spit!? You fucking brat, if you get that stuff anywhere near me, I will fucking-” Millaarc swore at the kid, who ignored her threats while he put his palm gently onto Millaarc’s cheek. Then, she felt a rush of relief. Whereas before, it felt like her eyes were on fire, it felt like someone had doused that flame with cool water. She shivered briefly at the feeling and then growled out at the kid.  
  
“Goddamnit brat! I told you to not-” Millaarc said while getting up from her bed unconsciously, blinded by anger. After a few moments, she realized what happened. “Holy shit, that worked!?” She slowly brought her hand up to her eyes and took the bandages off her face.  
  
The blood pouring from her eyes now stopped. Her previously yellow irises now had red iris in it as well. After looking around a bit to make sure that it wasn’t a dream, she looked down at Steven. After a moment, she sighed and scratched her cheek. “Thanks, kid. Sorry for the stuff I said before.” Millaarc apologized while looking the other way.  
  
With a wide grin on his face, Steven just said, “No prob!” before walking over to Vanessa and Elsa, healing both of them with his spit. Elsa was able to get off her bed and take off the bandages around her pelvis. She now had a metal hole at the base of her back.  
  
After a few minutes of experimenting moving their bodies, the Monsters turned to look at Steven with questions in their heads.  
  
Elsa asked first. “Steven, when did you learn that you could heal? A few hours ago?”  
  
Steven scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I learned that about a few months ago…”  
  
Millaarc jumped up from her bed and pointed her finger at Steven, and yelled “Wait, a few months ago!? Then why didn’t you use that to heal us last night?”  
  
Steven cringed at the accusation, especially since he didn’t have a good explanation. “I’ll be honest, I forget I can do that most of the time,” he answered with a self-deprecating laugh.  
  
Vanessa looked at the ground with a quizzical look on her face, cupping her chin. After a few moments, she asked “You’ve had your healing abilities for a few months, yet the Illuminati only kidnapped you recently, correct? So, you have this ability naturally.” She then looked back up at Steven with a calculating look on her eye, making Steven shiver a bit. “Just what are you, Steven Universe?”  
  
The three Monsters stared at Steven, making him sweat a bit. With a sigh, he lifted his shirt, revealing a rose quartz gem where his navel was supposed to be. “I’m part alien from my mom’s side,” He answered with a small smile on his face.  
  
“Oh yeah, and I’m Count Dracula,” Millaarc replied while rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. “You’ll have to come up with something better than that.”  
  
“Hey, if alchemists can exist, why can’t aliens?” Steven pointed out.  
  
“What kind of stupid reasoning is that?!” Millaarc argued back.  
  
“Regardless of its origins,” Elsa interjected. “I believe that Steven’s ability is certainly a boon.”  
  
“Certainly! And it appears that it has a second use as well!” Vanessa stated while putting a fist into her hand. When the other three prisoners looked at her, Vanessa’s smile grew. She brought her hand out, palms, and fingers towards the ceiling. Her fingers then opened and soon produced a small fire from the openings. Vanessa grinned triumphantly at their astounded faces, then answered their unstated question with, “I have a plan to escape this hellhole…”


	3. Chapter 3

The loud crash of automated metal doors opening awakened the test subjects of the Monster Division. In walked four nondescript men, pistols visible in the holsters in their belts. Another day of testing had begun. “Rise and shine, Monsters,” one of the men said emotionlessly. 

Vanessa slowly got up from her bed, visibly wincing, and got in front of the line. Millaarc blindly got up from her bed and followed after Vanessa. Or tried to, at least. The bloody bandages still covered her eyes, causing her to trip multiple times in the short walk to the prison gate. Elsa was still paralyzed from the surgery, so one of the guards lifted onto her wheelchair and pushed her to the door. 

The guards handcuffed the three monsters and led them to the door. Steven, however, was clutching his stomach, rolling around on his bed. One of the guards, a bald man, walked forward towards the boy when Steven fell off his bed, and onto the ground, on his side, clutching his stomach in pain. “M-my stomach, i-It hurts! M-make it stop!” the young boy managed to gasp out.

“Boy, suck it up and get up right now! You have a lot to do today, and we won’t postpone our experiments for a little tummy ache!” Said the bald guard before he kicked the young child’s back. The three guards stepped a bit in front of the Monsters in slight concern.

“Sir, this specimen is our top priority,” A guard with dull blonde hair began. “Is it wise to kick it if it suffers- AH!” A hard punch to the back of the head sent the guard to the ground before he could finish his inquiry. Before the other two guards could react, another blow struck them down, causing them to land next to their comrade on the cold floor.

The bald guard turned his head at the noise of the bodies hitting the floor, his hand already reaching for the handgun on his belt. But his arm was grabbed by the strong grip of a smaller hand. He briefly looked down and saw Steven stopping the man’s hand with determination in his eyes. The man looked back up and saw a metal fist coming towards his face. The bald man could only say one thing.

“ _ Shit… _ ”

He then joined his fellows in unconsciousness.

Steven stood up and looked down at the guards with a frown, and shook his head in distaste. “I wish we didn’t have to do this,” he said sullenly.

Vanessa, Elsa, and Millaarc searched the guards for keys to both the door and their handcuffs, none of them pretending to be hurt anymore. As they did, the eldest of the three gave Steven a sympathetic smile. “They wouldn’t have left us with a choice. You know that, don’t you?” She asked as she crushed the bald guard’s walkie talkie with her bare hands. 

Steven flinched at the question. This reminded him of his  _ other _ prison escape from space. Back then, Garnet had to fight Jasper so that he and the Crystal Gems could escape. Once again, he had to acknowledge that violence was necessary, even if he’d prefer resolving things peacefully.

After a moment’s search, Vanessa found both the key to the handcuffs and access card for the gate. She first unlocked her handcuffs before proceeding to do the same to both Elsa’s and Millaarc’s. Then, Vanessa walked over to the gate and inserted the card into the scanner. The cell door opened, allowing the woman to walk outside. She turned to look at her younger companions with a confident smile. “Let's get out of this hell-hole!” She beckoned.

Millaarc and Elsa eagerly nodded and walked out the door with her. Steven, however, looked down at the groaning group of unconscious guards for a bit, looking conflicted. He sighed, spat on his palm, and knelt next to each of the guards. He then laid his saliva-covered hands on each guard to heal their injuries. Thankfully, this didn’t wake them from their impromptu sleep.

After healing the guards, Steven followed the Monsters out of the gate. The Monsters looked at him as if he’d grown a second head. Of them, Millaarc asked, “Hey brat, why did you heal them? You could have just left them there.”

Steven looked up at the vampire hesitatingly, looked back at the guards, and up at her again. “I just felt like I had to. If I didn’t heal them, I would be no different from the scientists here.” Steven answered glumly, remorseful for what they had to do. Millaarc huffed but didn't say any more about the matter.

Vanessa looked at her fellow escapees with a thoughtful expression before turning her focus back to the path ahead. She closed the gate, locking the guards in their former prison cell. Then, Vanessa looked down at Elsa with a small smile on her face. “Elsa, dear, we need you to be our lookout. Keep your ears open for trouble, ok?”

Elsa looked up at her with burning determination in her eyes. “I’ll do my best, Ma’am!” She answered without hesitation. She walked over to the corner of the hallway, hidden behind the stone walls. Her wolf ears twitched, and she quietly listened for any noise for a moment. “All clear,” She whispered.

The group then ran forward, every step advancing them towards freedom.

XXXX

Miku, a black-haired girl with green eyes, arrived at the pier SONG’s submarine base was docked in. After she showed her SONG issued ID to the guard, they allowed her access and parked next to the submarine. She walked onto the bridge into the submarine, greeting its crew members.

Miku knew the submarine’s layout like the back of her hand. She’d come here numerous times before to bring Hibiki her lunch while the Symphogear users were training. As she made her way to the cafeteria, she wondered what new friend Hibiki made this time.

When Miku entered the cafeteria, the sight of a purple woman eating an entire food tray greeted her. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and opened them again. No, she wasn’t dreaming. The woman wasn’t gorging herself on just the food but even the utensils and the tray itself. Hibiki and Chris were looking at the woman in both shock and fascination. Miku couldn’t blame them.

“There you are Hibiki!” Miku called out to her sunshine, which Hibiki snapped out of her trance. She ran over to Miku and hugged her. 

“Miku, you’re here! Come and meet my new friend. She’s really cool!” Hibiki said while dragging Miku by her arm over to the table where Chris and the purple woman were sitting. As the brown-haired girl sat down, Hibiki pointed her arm towards the new woman’s direction in excitement. “Miku, this is Amethyst! She can eat  _ anything! _ ”

Amethyst waved her hand, chewing her food tray, and swallowed it. She then burped out a piece out of it onto the table in front of Miku. She stared at it for a bit, then turned her head at a grinning Hibiki and stunned Chris, and switched her focus back to Amethyst. Miku then smiled at Amethyst, trying to forget what she had just witnessed. 

“Hello, Amethyst-san. I’m sure Hibiki already told you this, but my name is Miku,” She greeted while she looked down at the food tray piece on the table. “I see that you like the… food… here,” Miku stated, still not sure how to respond to seeing Amethyst eating the food tray.

Amethyst just shrugged at Miku’s statement and reached over to grab the piece of the food tray in front of Miku. “What can I say? The stretchiness and crunchy parts of the food tray  _ really  _ speaks to me, you know?” She then threw the last piece of the food tray into her mouth and swallowed it. 

Hibiki grinned at Miku after seeing it, “Can you believe it Miku? We’ve finally met someone who’s a messier eater than Chris-chan!” No sooner did Hibiki say this than Chris’s hand grab her by the ear, causing the brown-haired girl to yowl in pain.

“Care to say that again?” A blushing Chris said into Hibiki’s ear, both pissed off and embarrassed at the remark. So what if she sometimes got sauce on her mouth? Everyone else did too!

Miku ignored Chris and Hibiki’s spat with a sigh. She walked over to the chef to get some food. After filling her plate, she sat down at the table with her friends.

Amethyst looked at the two girls fighting and scratched the side of her face. “Huh, they kinda remind me of Pearl and me. We used to fight with each other all the time. Like, so often that it got in the way of our missions. One time, Pearl, Steven, and I had to find a magic beetle, and Pearl and I weren’t able to go for more than ten seconds without fighting. But by the end of it, we fused and kicked bird-monster butt!”

Miku made a mental note to ask Amethyst about ‘fusing’, looked at Amethyst with a smile on her face, and said, “Oh, is that so? You two sound like such great friends now! With these two,” Miku gave a pointed look at her friends. Chris was still tugging Hibiki’s ear, causing the brunette to moan in pain. Neither of them paid attention to the other two people at the table. “It can be hard to tell, but they know that they can trust each other with anything,” Miku concluded with a small smile on her face.

Miku then stood up from the table and put her hands on their shoulders. “Hibiki, Chris-chan, do I need to remind you that tomorrow we have school? Don’t use all your energy on arguing with each other, alright?”

Chris sighed, and with a grumble, let go of Hibiki’s ear. “Fine, but only because we have to be good role models for Kirika and Shirabe.”

Hibiki smiled weakly while clutching her red ear, “Thank you, Miku. I don’t think my ear could’ve taken much more punishment!” She thanked her roommate while grabbing the black-haired girl’s hands.

The three humans continued to eat their dinners while Amethyst ate a couple more trays. After an hour of eating, talking about their lives, and telling jokes to each other, Miku looked at her phone and saw the time. She stood up from her chair and moved her head towards Hibiki and Chris. “Hibiki, Chris-chan we have to go home now if we want to get to bed on time,” she said.

With a sigh, Chris got up from her chair and made her way to the door after cleaning up. “Miku, wake the Idiot up so she isn’t late to class, ok? And see ya, Amethyst.”

“Aw man, do I have to? I was having so much fun talking to Amethyst-chan!” Hibiki lamented but got up from her seat after seeing Miku’s stern face. She turned to Amethyst and, with a smile on her face, said “Bye, Amethyst-chan. We’ll come back in a few days with our friends!”

With a smile on her face, the purple woman waved her hands in goodbye, “See ya later guys! And bring some snacks while you’re at it!”

XXXX

The escaped experiments slowly made their way through the complex, stealthily dodging any patrolling security guards. Elsa’s wolf ears detected anyone they came across, allowing them to move through the base like ghosts.

The group ran past a door in the hallway and went to the corner of the end of the hallway. After waiting a few moments, the group was about to go past it when Elsa’s ears perked. “Someone’s behind-” 

The young werewolf was interrupted by a chuckle. “I knew something was wrong when you Monsters didn’t show up for our regular appointment,” An amused voice from behind the group said. Suddenly, Steven felt the cold, metal barrel of a gun press against the side of his head. He glanced up and saw the same gray-and-brown-haired doctor that experimented on him yesterday. The man must have come out of a door on the side of the hallway as Steven passed it, which is why Elsa didn’t detect him in time. 

The same doctor gave his characteristically sadistic grin and placed his other gently hand on Steven’s shoulder. Steven’s eyes bulged, and sweat started to form on his face. Then, the doctor let out an evil chuckle, causing the young child to gulp. “Now, unless you want this specimen’s grey matter to coat the floor, you three  _ will  _ return to your cells,” The doctor ordered, reveling in his power over them.

“You bastard, let him go right now if you know what's good for you!” Millaarc sneered at the doctor, her eyes burning with hatred. Her hands began bleeding from her nails digging into her palms. Vanessa and Elsa gripped their hands and bit their lips in frustration.

The doctor looked at Millaarc’s eyes in slight shock. “I see,” He said in a genuinely surprised voice. “Your eyes have miraculously healed. I assume that this specimen here healed you somehow,” The doctor pressed his gun at Steven’s head harder. Then, he regained his confidence and said, ”No matter. We’ll put you in separate cells so something like this won’t happen again.”

As Millaarc glared at the doctor, her eye color changed from a yellow and red iris to the color of a church’s stained glass windows. The change was so startling that when her eyes met the doctor’s, the scientist almost dropped his gun. “I said, let him go!” the vampire sneered at the doctor. 

In a monotone voice, with no emotions guiding his words, the doctor simply said, “As you wish.” He dropped his gun and took a step back from Steven. The boy then ran from the scientist to the side of the Monsters, hiding behind Vanessa. The girls were shocked.

Then, Vanessa’s face brightened in realization. “I know what happened here! According to mythology, vampires can hypnotize people using their gaze,” She explained to her curious companions. “Millaarc must’ve gotten that ability from yesterday’s surgery.”

“Hypnosis huh?” Millaarc asked Vanessa rhetorically before she got an idea. “Hey,” She addressed the scientist. “Is there anything here that would help us escape this dump?”

The doctor nodded and walked into the room he came from. The three younger experiments looked up at Vanessa for guidance, to which she nodded in approval. However, before she went inside, Vanessa picked up the pistol from the ground, just in case this was a trick.

She walked into the room after the scientist, with the younger experiments following after her. When the group looked around, they saw a workshop filled with materials and tools. There was a big table in the middle which had a red and black suitcase on it. There was also a big box filled with glowing crystals on the side.

“This suitcase here is a weapon designed to be used by the werewolf specimen,” The scientist explained as he took the suitcase off the table and gave it to Elsa. The pink-haired girl inspected the device. Her left eye twitched in annoyance when she saw a sticker of a bone over a crescent moon. She wanted to peel it off immediately, but it looked like the sticker was stuck to the suitcase for the time being. She sighed and, with great reluctance, accepted the suitcase.

Meanwhile, Steven walked over to the box of crystals on another desk and picked one up, and looked at it with curiosity. “What are these things anyway?” He wondered aloud. Vanessa came up behind him and took it out of his hands gently, making sure not to break it. 

“These are teleportation crystals. When broken, they teleport the target to a predetermined destination.” Vanessa explained while putting her hand under her chin. “These crystals here are probably programmed to go to an Illuminati base. But maybe…” Vanessa smiled when an idea came to her. “Everyone, I want you to take some of these crystals with you! I might be able to reprogram these for us to use later!” Vanessa ordered while carefully stuffing the crystals in her sleeves. The other three nodded while following her orders. 

When the group finished their scavenging, Millaarc looked back up at the hypnotized doctor with disgust. “Now, is there a way out of this dump that won’t set off the alarms?” She asked him.

“I am afraid not. You will likely have to fight your way through guards at the gate if you want to leave,” He said blankly. The Monsters sighed at the news, but they weren’t too surprised by this. However, Steven nervously gulped at the news. 

With an annoyed look on her face, Millaarc continued her questioning by asking, “Anything else we should know before we head out?” 

“I have heard rumors that the three leaders are currently looking for something in Val Verde. I don’t have the clearance to know exactly what, but I do know that it is something powerful. It may be enough to grant you your humanity once more,” Answered the hypnotized scientist.

That had gotten a reaction from the experiments, with the three Monsters grinning at the new information. Grinning ear to ear, Millaarc said, “Thanks for all your help, doc!” She then looked towards the pistol that Vanessa was holding. Her smile turned into a snarl. “But for trying to hurt our friend Steven, I’m going to need you to di-”

However, before Millaarc could finish the order, a panicked shout came out of the young half-alien’s mouth, interrupting her order. “Millaarc, please don’t finish that sentence!” Steven said while grabbing Millaarc’s hand. 

Millaarc growled at Steven, disbelief in her eyes, “Why are you defending him!? He held you at gunpoint just a few minutes ago!”

“I know that he and the other scientists have done terrible things to you guys. And you have the right to hate them, I can’t take that from you.” Steven said while pointing his arm at the brown-haired scientist who hurt him so badly. ”But I can’t let you kill him, for your sake! If you kill him, you’ll only be proving them right!” The Monsters’ eyes widened at the claim, while Steven continued, “You’ll let them win if you prove to them that you are monsters!” Steven concluded with determination in his eyes. Millaarc stared at Steven’s eyes, the boy not flinching from the vampire’s gaze.

Millaarc sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. “Tch, fine whatever kid.” With a reluctant grunt, she looked back at the doctor. “You there, just go to sleep and forget we ever talked to you, got it?” She ordered the brown-haired doctor. The doctor then flopped onto the ground, falling asleep immediately.

Vanessa grabbed the back of his lab coat and dragged him towards the back of the room where passing guards wouldn’t see him. With a small smile, she grasped her metal hands together. “Okay everyone, now that we have everything we need, let's get going!” 

The other three escapees nodded before going out the door, making sure no guards came by. When Steven went out of the room last, Vanessa looked at the young boy with an almost unnoticeable frown on her face. 

The cyborg shook her head when she remembered his earlier speech. With a sigh too quiet for even Elsa to hear, Vanessa followed the younger experiments out the door and began their escape with their new equipment.

XXX

Pearl was in the submarine’s workshop, working on the spacecraft with the highest quality tools that SONG could give. But even then, the progress was slow. The Rubies’ ship was made of a material that human tools had difficulty manipulating.

Garnet was there, helping Pearl move the bigger pieces and giving advice as to where to place the bolts. Times like this made Pearl grateful for Garnet’s future vision.

Speaking of which… Pearl looked up at the maroon gem in slight hope, “Garnet, I-I know that this might be too hopeful, but can you see anything about Steven?”

Garnet allowed herself to bow her head in disappointment, “You know I would have said something if I could, Pearl. But this Earth’s geology is very different from our own. All I know is that he is somewhere on this Earth.”

Pearl sighed in slight relief, glad to know that Steven was here on Earth somewhere and not in space, where who knows what could happen. But she could not shake this feeling of dread in her gem. Steven could be in danger on this Earth, but she couldn’t help him without knowing where he was!

She looked back at the ship, attempting to fix a huge gash on the side of the ship. “I'm sorry I asked. I just want to find him as soon as we can.”

“I don’t mind, Pearl. I know that you only wanted to find Steven as soon as possible. We all do. But we can only hope that he is okay right now, and can handle himself.” Garnet comforted the lithe gem, gently putting her palm on Pearl’s shoulder. The smaller Gem looked up at her friend, with small tears in her eyes. But soon she wiped them away.

Crying wouldn’t help Steven now. Now was the time for action. 

XXXX

After what seemed like forever, Steven and the Monsters finally arrived at the exit of the facility. A metal gate fifty meters wide and ten meters tall stood between them and their destination. The planes and helicopters in the landing bay might’ve been an option for escape if not for the twenty guards standing guard. There were probably more hiding somewhere.

Steven pointed at one of the planes. “We could take one of those things over there…” He suggested.

Vanessa put her hand on her chin. “It’s likely bugged, which will let them track us towards our new location. We’ll have to leave the plane soon after we leave this prison. But we can still use it for now.” Her answer caused the other three escapees to smile slightly. They could almost taste their hard-earned freedom.

But before they could make a plan to sneak over to the plane, a loud siren rang through the hanger, causing the experiments to cover their ears. The sudden noise especially disorientated Elsa, who attempted to cover her wolf ears too.

**”FOUR OF THE EXPERIMENTS HAVE ESCAPED THEIR CELLS. BE ON THE LOOKOUT! LETHAL FORCE IS AUTHORIZED,”** Rang the intercom, alerting the guards of their escape.

At this, the guards became much more vigilant than before, watching each shadow with great care. More guards flooded the room, some approaching the gates the escapees were hiding behind.

“They’re getting closer each second!” Millaarc cursed, her eyes becoming like stained windows in preparation for a fight.

“They’re coming from behind us as well,” Elsa informed them with urgency in her voice. Her wolf ears twitched at the sound of footsteps coming from further down the hallway.

“We’ll have to run to the plane then,” Vanessa concluded. She looked at her younger companions. “Alright. Girls, Steven, whatever you do, don’t stop for any reason, got it?” Vanessa ordered the rest of the group. They nodded with determination. 

Vanessa aimed her left hand towards a pile of barrels, and when her fingers opened, quietly shot a bullet out towards them. With a bang, the barrels of jet fuel fell over, attracting some guards towards it to inspect the cause.

With a wave of her hand as a signal, they began running out of the hallway as fast as they could. With the guards distracted, they had managed to get a head start towards the plane. When the guards running down the hallway arrived at the hangers, they spotted the experiments. 

“There they are! Fire!” said the guard in front of the unit. He and his comrades aimed their guns at the escaping experiments.

Vanessa, Millaarc, and Elsa kept running towards the plane with no regard to the man’s order, but Steven instinctively turned his head to look in the direction of the guards. His eyes widened when he saw the guns being pointed at the Monsters.

“Don’t hurt them!” Steven yelled out when the men pulled the triggers on their weapons.

The guards fired their guns, only for their bullets to ricochet off a bright, pink shield four meters in diameter with a thorn pattern on it. It covered the young boy and the Monsters, protecting them from the gunfire. The bullets bounced off the forcefield and into nearby boxes, breaking them apart and ridding them with holes.

The Monsters turned back when they heard Steven’s shout and were stunned to see his shield. Millaarc was the first to act, “Brat, get a move on! They won’t sit here forever!” She said while grabbing the back of Steven’s shirt and dragging him back into the plane.

Steven kept his shield up to block the guard’s path and followed the vampire towards the plane. The blockage forced the hallway guards to make a detour to get a clear shot at the monsters. The guards originally in the hanger heard the shots, realized the escapees’ ploy, and joined their fellows in the hallway. 

After what seemed like an eternity, which in reality was thirty seconds, the escapees reached the plane. Fortunately for them, it was being prepared for takeoff right before they arrived. They ran inside and hastily closed the door. Vanessa took the pilot’s seat and flipped every necessary switch needed in haste. 

“Hurry the fuck up, Vanessa! They’re gaining ground on us!” Millaarc shouted while looking out the windows, seeing guards appearing pass by the crates and shield blocking their previous line of sight.

“What do you think I’m doing!?” Vanessa yelled out while pulling the last switch needed to fly the plane. “I think I got it!”

“That’s great, ma’am, but please, we must leave  _ now _ !” Elsa yelled out when a bullet pierced through the side window, barely missing the werewolf.

“Hang on everyone!!” Vanessa yelled out as the plane lurched out of the hanger and into the runway. Any guards who were at the hanger’s door jumped out of the way of the speeding plane. When it reached the outside, Vanessa ignored proper flying etiquette and took off the runway as soon as possible. 

Elsa looked outside and her eyes widened when she saw something on the ground. “Ma’am, turrets are aiming at us!”

“What!?” Everyone yelled out when they heard Elsa. Millaarc and Steven went to her window and looked outside, and indeed saw that there was a turret aiming at their aircraft. Vanessa continued flying the plane, trying to move the machine faster than before.

“They’re going to shoot us out of the sky! Vanessa, dodge them!” Millaarc cursed out when she saw the weapon aiming at them.

“No, don’t do that, Vanessa!” Elsa yelled out at the woman, causing Steven and Millaarc to shoot her incredulous looks at her.

“Why shouldn’t she try!?” Millaarc demanded from the werewolf. 

The wolf girl looked at the vampire with certainty in her eyes. “With Steven’s shield, we can defend ourselves without slowing down!” She answered back while pointing her hands towards the young half-gem. “This plane is not built for sudden movements, so it can’t dodge the turrets. But if Steven can block the turret’s bullets with his shield, then we can escape gracefully!”

“That’s still too risky, we’re not-”   
  
“I’ll do it!” Millaarc was rejecting the younger girl’s proposition when Steven answered with conviction in his voice. He was already going towards the door when Millaarc grabbed his shoulder tightly, stopping him. 

“Listen brat, if you mess this up, we’ll be blasted into smithereens,” Millaarc warned with an annoyed look in her eyes. 

“Trust me, I can save us from the turrets! And you can’t stop me from trying!” Steven retorted with a determined look in his eyes. Millaarc sighed, let go of his shoulders, and looked out the windows towards the turrets.

“Fine, whatever. If we blow up, don’t think I won’t find you in the afterlife to give you two a piece of my mind!” Millaarc threatened the two younger escapees. She and Elsa grabbed a nearby railing tightly in preparation.

With a smile, Steven walked to the door once more and grabbed the side railing next to the door. With a deep breath to focus, he opened the door, and soon the air was rushing around like a storm inside the plane, almost making Steven, Elsa, and Millaarc let go of the railings. 

However, Steven refused to let go and gained his bearings quickly. He looked at the turrets and saw that they were about to shoot the plane. 

The turrets spat their bullets towards them, trying to knock the plane from the sky. But just as the bullets were about to reach the plane, Steven’s bright pink shield reemerged, this time big enough to protect the entire aircraft.

Nonetheless, the turrets kept attempting to shoot the plane down. But no matter how many bullets were shot at the shield, none were able to pierce through its defenses.

When the plane gained enough altitude to get out of the turret’s range, Millaarc pulled Steven back inside the plane and closed the door. Immediately, the roar of the wind and the sound of gunfire ceased, making the inside of the plane calmer. The vampire girl tossed the half-gem onto a nearby chair. As rough as it was, Steven didn’t care. He was so exhausted from the day’s events that he was grateful he didn’t have to crawl to the chair himself.

“Jesus Christ, you two are nuts! Your plan could have gone so badly!” Millaarc ranted while pulling her hair. 

“But it worked, didn’t it?” Elsa retorted with a small smile. She felt like she had the right to be a little smug for her ingenious plan.

“That's enough out of you two. Just be glad that we escaped!” Vanessa cheered at her seat, which made the other three experiments realize that their escape plan worked. 

Millaarc gave a big whoop, turned back at their former prison’s direction, and gave it a middle finger. “So long!” She cried.

Elsa’s reaction was quieter, though much more poignant. “Freedom,” she whispered loudly. A big smile crossed her face as tears began forming in her eyes. “We finally escaped,” she said as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened. 

Steven smiled at his chair and looked out towards the dense woods illuminated by the moon. The serene sight of the shattered moon behind a forest would make a nice painting…

Wait…

“Guys, what happened to the moon!?”


	4. Chapter 4

Garnet leaned back on the workshop’s wall and stared into space. Pearl was working on the Roaming Eye and didn’t need her help, so she had time to meditate. Any human walking by the red alien assumed that she was sleeping, but that was far from the truth. Garnet possessed the power of precognition, otherwise known as Future Vision. With it, she could see any possible future through her third eye. 

She was concentrating on using her power more than ever before, but she wasn’t pleased with the results. At first, she had concentrated on the possible futures in which she and the Crystal Gems prioritized searching for Steven over anything else. She had seen multiple visions of him, but they differed so widely. He appeared in a European forest, a human city, a jungle, and many other unfamiliar places. Without more information, she couldn’t guess where he would be in reality.

But there was one thing all her Future Visions had in common: at the end of each of them, a wave of bright, green light would come over the horizon. The strange light covered the young boy, along with any humans that happened to be near him. When the green light disappeared, Steven would sometimes come out unharmed. But most of the time, he didn’t come back. He’d be swallowed, leaving behind nothing. 

Garnet was accustomed to seeing Steven and the Crystal Gems getting hurt, or worse, dying in her visions, but it still pained her every time she saw it. And to make matters worse, this happened in every timeline where she and her companions left Japan to find Steven. To say this displeased her would be an understatement.

After witnessing a few dozen visions like this, she realized something about the strange, green light. With the positions of the Moon and the Sun, Garnet inferred that it originated from Japan, the country she and her companions were staying in.

With some reluctance, she decided to look into timelines where the Crystal Gems choose to stay in Japan with S.O.N.G. 

In these visions, Hibiki, Chris, and four other young women fought against beings that resembled mannequins. Each of the six humans fought while wearing strange armor. Garnet figured these were the Symphogears the two girls mentioned on the helicopter ride to S.O.N.G HQ.

The girls also sang during combat. Interesting, but not unusual to Garnet. She and the rest of the Crystal Gems sometimes sang during combat too.

Garnet eventually foresaw the mastermind, a blonde woman wearing purple armor with a witch’s hat standing over the defeated bodies of Chris and four of her other comrades. To her quiet horror, the shattered remains of Pearl and Amethyst also laid on the ground, their Gems broken and dull. In that future, Hibiki and Garnet were the last ones standing against the witch, and the human girl was barely able to stand on her feet.

The mastermind’s eyes were filled with pure hatred, a hatred that surpassed any Homeworld Gem that Garnet had ever seen. It was a cold hatred, a hatred for everything the world stood for.

“You’ve done well to entertain me, but I’m afraid it’s time for this farce to end,” The blonde woman taunted. Then, she raised her hands in the air, creating a series of glyphs around her, and shouted “Now, let us begin the world’s dissection!” Bursts of pure energy fired out of the glyphs at Hibiki, ready to destroy her.

The young warrior was unable to react in time to the attack, but Garnet ran in front of the girl at the last moment, taking the hit for her. But the attack was too much. The blast dispelled her form, causing Ruby and Sapphire’s gems to fall to the ground.

The last thing that the Garnet of the future heard was Hibiki yelling out her name in shock and despair.

Garnet shook her head and tried another future. And another. And another. The visions left her with more questions than answers, but she realized that her decision here could affect the fate of this Earth. 

_‘I’m sorry, Steven, but you’ll have to hold out a little longer. If we don’t help these humans, we won’t get a chance to reunite.’_ Garnet thought to herself. She clenched her fists. She hated having to prioritize something else over reuniting with Steven.

Garnet then began focusing on the near future, trying to see how she can prevent the “World’s Dissection” from happening. Hopefully, Steven would be okay, wherever he was.

XXXX

It had been two days since the Gems crash-landed in Japan and started living at S.O.N.G. headquarters. Pearl and Garnet had been making gradual progress on the Roaming Eye while Amethyst explored the submarine to see what it had to offer. She also ate many of the cafeteria’s food and utensils, to the point where there was now a shortage of both.

Genjuro had to pacify the angry chefs by raising their salaries, which was a headache in and of itself.

Today was Sunday. The new morning shift for the humans was starting. Amethyst wandered around the submarine. Seeing how she was bored, she decided to head towards the bridge to see what the crew members were up to.

When she arrived at the bridge, she something unexpected: a live broadcast of some concert on the big screen on the wall. There was a small preview of the two singers. The first one was a young woman with waist-long, blue hair in a side ponytail. The other woman had pink hair that was elegantly split up in multiple directions. Both wore dresses fit for pleasing their adoring fans.

Genjuro was there, watching intently with a huge grin on his face.

“Hey, Genjuro! Who are these guys?” Amethyst asked while walking further in, wondering why he was watching a concert. Maybe the crew here were fans?

The commander looked down at Amethyst with a kind smile on his face, “Oh, Amethyst-kun, I didn’t hear you come in!” He put his focus back on the screen, which soon shifted to the concert hall’s stage. There was a number on the bottom, signifying the time the concert is scheduled to start. 

“The young woman with blue hair is my niece, Tsubasa-kun. She is performing with her partner Maria-kun in England, and I would be a terrible uncle if I missed even a single concert!” Genjuro explained with pride in his loud voice, crossing his arms in the process.

“Tsubasa? Oh, I recognize that name! Hibiki told me about her and how she helped shatter the moon to save the planet!” Amethyst concluded while putting her hands behind her head. Remembering everything that was explained to her was a bother, as her memory of them was kinda hazy. She regretted not paying enough attention to them.

Genjuro nodded in confirmation, “Yes. Tsubasa-kun and Maria-kun are currently off on a tour around the globe to give hope to their fans.”

“Huh, that sounds pretty cool! Hey, do you mind if I watch it with you guys?” Amethyst asked while taking a seat at an empty chair. 

Genjuro shook his head, approving her request, a small grin on his face. “Of course not. I’m sure that Tsubasa-kun and Maria-kun would love for you to watch their show!”

“Thanks, man! Really appreciate it!” Amethyst said before leaning back in the chair and put her arms behind her head.

Soon, the timer reached its end, and the center of the stadium shined a light, revealing the two young singers in elaborate outfits in a cloud of mist.

Amethyst had seen a couple of concerts on TV with Steven and the others, all cool in their ways. But this show went far beyond any she had seen before. The two appeared to be dancing on the water itself, with geysers rushing out of the pool of water at their feet. They flew at some points like it was natural for them to go through the water spouts!

And that didn’t even include the lyrics that the two women were singing. They felt like the two humans were specifically singing _to her_ , and not just the crowd.

“Wow…” was all Amethyst could say. She was so mesmerized by the two’s performance that the rambunctious Gem couldn’t keep her eyes away from the screen.

The bridge’s viewing of the concert was then interrupted by the noise of the door opening behind them, along with hurrying footsteps.

The sudden noise from behind her snapped Amethyst out of her trance, causing her to look behind the chair to see what happened. 

It was Garnet, whose stern face looked like something urgent was happening. Behind the maroon woman was Pearl, who had panicked on her face. 

“You have to stop the concert, now! If you don’t, then there will be dire consequences in the future!” Garnet warned Genjuro, who looked at the alien in shock. But the expression then turned into a serious expression. 

“What is going to happen at the concert?” The commander asked, his voice carrying authority that spread across the room. While Genjuro is normally a jolly man, he knew when to take matters seriously.

“A mannequin-looking woman wearing a dark green dress will attempt to destroy Tsubasa’s Symphogear in England! You’ll also have to tell everyone that something that looks like Noise will be able to destroy their armor with their appendages!” Garnet warned, causing the entirety of the bridge to look at Garnet with shock.

Fujitaka stood up from his chair in shock, the chair hitting the floor with a clang. “NOISE!?” He exclaimed in shock. “T-That’s impossible! They were destroyed during the Frontier incident three months ago! How do you even know that will happen!” 

Garnet hesitated for only a brief moment before answering the agent. “I can see the future. This is the start of a series of clashes that will decide the fate of the world. And to prove it, in ten seconds, you will get a report about a building fire in District Seven.”

As Garnet finished her explanation, the phone on Tomosoto’s station began ringing loudly. The agent picked up the phone with some hesitance in her stance. As the agent listened, her eyes widened in shock before nodding along to the report. When the report was finished, she hung up the phone and looked at Genjuro. “It appears that Garnet-san is correct. There is an apartment complex on fire in the Seventh District and reports of explosions in nearby areas.”

Genjuro’s eyes widened in shock before giving out orders. “Call Hibiki-kun and Chris-kun and tell them to go rescue the people in the fire and investigate the disturbances! And call Ogawa to locate the Mannequin! Hurry!” His subordinates nodded before picking up their communicators to contact Hibiki and Chris.

He then turned and looked at Garnet with acceptance in his eyes. “You really can tell the future. Is there anything else that we need to hear from you?” Genjuro asked while bowing his head slightly at the alien. 

“I will go to the fire myself to assist her. Amethyst and Pearl will head towards Chris’s location to assist her with the upcoming fight. They will need our help to come out of this unscathed,” Garnet answered, cueing Amethyst to get out of her chair to go by the Gems side. 

Genjuro sighed, but nodded with conviction, and answered, “Very well, I can get you three a helicopter ride to your destinations!”

Amethyst waved her hands in dismissal, “Don’t worry about it. I can get us there in no time!” she answered before glowing in white light. Her form changed shape from a human to a small helicopter that had the Gem’s face on it, floating in the air. “See!? Pretty cool huh? This isn’t even half of what I can do!”

Genjuro and the rest of the humans looked at the Gem in shock, unable to respond to the sight. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. 

Pearl was the one to break the silence. “Amethyst, quit showing off!” She said, annoyed. “You need to have enough energy to get us there!”

Amethyst gave a huff, but followed Pearl’s orders, turning back to her human form. Pearl looked back up at Garnet with worry in her eyes. “Garnet, we need to leave soon if we want to intercept the two girls.”

Genjuro was taken out of his stupor and nodded towards the Gems. With valor in his voice, he gave the Gems his permission. “I understand. Go now! I’ll make sure that anyone who sees you signs an NDA!”

With a nod, the three aliens ran out of the bridge, and towards the helipad that they arrived in. 

XXXX

Ogawa watched Tsubasa and Maria perform on stage from the security room, with a smile on his face. Seeing her perform always brought a smile to the man’s face, as he knew that the girl who he viewed as a little sister was having the time of her life performing for her adoring fans. 

He remembered when Kanade, Tsubasa’s previous partner and the first wielder of the Gungnir Symphogear, passed away at the Zwei Wing concert. Back then, Tsubasa had closed herself off from the outside world and refused to let anyone through her walls. However, Hibiki’s efforts tore down those walls, allowing Tsubasa to begin healing from the pain. 

Tsubasa and Maria were in the middle of their first act when Ogawa got a call from his S.O.N.G communicator. With haste, he brought it up to his ear and answered the machine with, “This is Agent Ogawa speaking. What is the situation?” 

“Ogawa, we’ve received information that a potential enemy has infiltrated the concert hall. She is a mannequin-like creature in a green dress. She can summon a special kind of Noise that can destroy a Symphogear. I need you to get Tsubasa-kun and Maria-kun out of the concert hall as fast as you can!” Came Genjuro’s orders, practically booming from the communicator. While Ogawa would like to know how the Noise are back, he knows that now was not the time for hesitance. 

“Understood sir, I’ll have them vacate immediately!” He replied before hanging up. He went up to the console and pressed the button that let Tsubasa and Maria know that it was an emergency that needed their immediate attention. He then ran out of the room, racing towards the gates to meet the two singers.

He never noticed the blur of air standing in the hall.

XXXX

Tsubasa was having the time of her life performing on stage with Maria, enjoying the smiles she brought on people’s faces as they sang. The two singers had been hard at work for the past month to get the routine down for this venue, and the effort was going to good use. 

But when the two singers finished their first act, their special bracelet she wore began beeping. It was given to them, in the event something serious was happening that needed their immediate attention.

With an inaudible sigh, she looked at Maria, whose own bracelet was beeping, who was also giving a similar look of melancholy. Steeling herself, Tsubasa spoke into her mic. “Everyone, thank you for coming and watching our first act! It means so much to us, but I am afraid that there is an emergency that needs our immediate attention! I assure you that you will get a full refund for the missing songs scheduled! Thank you, and good night!”

Amongst the quiet muttering and some jeers, Tsubasa and Maria then made their way into the corridor that is their entrance and exit into the venue. It was there where they met up with Ogawa, a brown-haired man with a pair of glasses.

It was Maria who asked first. “What is the problem, Ogawa? You wouldn’t use the emergency bracelet just to tell us that we did a good job.” 

With a serious look on his face, Ogawa answered Maria with, “I have been informed that an enemy has infiltrated the concert hall in an attempt at destroying Tsubasa’s Symphogear, who can summon a special kind of Noise that can destroy your armor! We must vacate the venue immediately before any citizen’s get hurt!“

The two singers' eyes widened at the information. It seemed unbelievable, but then again, Ogawa wouldn’t lie about something like that. “Understood,” they said at the same time.

Ogawa waved for the girls to follow him and began leading them to the back of the concert hall to an exit only staff could use.

XXXX

The three S.O.N.G agents had reached the exit to the sight of two United Nations agents standing in their way, pointing their guns at the three. 

“You there! What are you three up to!?” Asked one of the agents.

But before Ogawa could answer the inquiry, the startling voice of an adult woman came out like a mirror breaking. “This won’t do at all. Only I am allowed to break that sword.” 

A gust of wind with the same power as a tornado came from out of nowhere. The gust of wind was sharp enough to sever the United Nations Agents’ hands, the appendages falling to the ground along with their guns. The two agents dropped to the ground, clutching their stumps and howling in pain.

The three S.O.N.G agents quickly turned to where the attack and voice originated from, with Tsubasa already putting her hand on her pendant. In the darkness of the venue’s shadow, came a woman wearing a dark green dress. She pointed a broadsword with a green gem at the bottom of its handle at the three. Though she resembled a human, her skin was too pale and smooth, and her eyes almost looked like they were made of glass. 

Ogawa aimed his gun at the enemy. “You must be the one who infiltrated the venue!” He shouted. “Who are you? And why do you want to kill Tsubasa!?”

With a coy smirk, the woman lunged at the three agents at the speed of a fighter jet. She swung her sword down towards Ogawa’s neck, severing his head from his body.

However, her victory was short-lived. To her confusion, Ogawa’s body was suddenly replaced by a log, which then fell to the ground harmlessly. The woman looked around the vicinity to find where the three could have gone. They weren’t anywhere on the ground, so that meant… 

The woman looked up towards the roof of the generator room nearby, to the sight of an unharmed Ogawa holding the two girls by the back of their shirt. He then put Tsubasa and Maria on their feet. 

“Thank you, Ogawa. I will return the favor one day.” Tsubasa thanked the ninja, who merely smiled. The blue-haired woman looked down at the woman and asked. “Now, who are you, and what are your goals?”

The woman shrugged her shoulders and said, “Very well. If you must know, my name is Phara, and I just came here to hear your song.” She then lifted her dress with one hand while holding her sword with another. In taking this stance, her body made a sound like that of a metal clock. “Now, will you have a dance of death with me, Tsubasa Kazanari?”

With a glare, Tsubasa held her pendant in front of her face, “Very well. If it is a duel you seek, then I shall grant your wish!” Tsubasa then closed her eyes, her lips moving to a chant.

_Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron_

To the tune of her chant, Tsubasa’s body began glowing brightly like the sun. Soon, her body began dimming down, revealing her new form. Her concert clothes were replaced by blue and white armor, with edges jutting out in various spots, such as the heels of her boots.

Hearing the moans of pain from the UN agents, Tsubasa looked at Ogawa out of the corner of her eye. “Ogawa, can you get the two agents out of the vicinity while I deal with my opponent?” 

Ogawa nodded before vanishing out of sight. He reappeared behind the two UN Agents, and soon disappeared once more, their hands fading away from existence as well.

Before either combatant could make their move, Maria spoke up. With a look of concern, Maria glanced over to her partner. “Tsubasa, be careful with this foe. I can already tell that she is not one to be trifled with. And not to mention the info we got…” 

Maria still couldn’t believe it. After all the six Symphogears went through to finish the threat of Noise for good, it was for naught. And to make matters worse, the Noise that this woman could summon had the power to destroy Tsubasa’s Symphogear.

With a nod, Tsubasa summoned a katana from her armored boot and pointed it down at the enemy. “I understand Maria. I’ll keep my vigilance up in case our information is correct. But I must face this enemy!”

Phara’s lips curled up into a cocky smile. Her eyes were beckoning for Tsubasa to come to her. “My my, it seems someone is eager to face death. Very well, I shall give you a show!” 

Tsubasa snarled at the woman. The warrior focused her strength on her legs and aimed. Then she pounced at the enemy with a burst of speed that produced a sonic boom. Such a move would’ve easily pierced a normal enemy, but Phara blocked Ame-no-Habikiri with her longsword. The blow caused Tsubasa to leap back into the air, but the doll-like figure met the Symphogear user, prepared to face her in midair.

XXXX

Garnet and Pearl had been flying inside Amethyst, who transformed into a bigger version of the helicopter she had turned into earlier. Pearl looked out into the city and saw the fire that Garnet predicted over into the west. She looked hesitant but eventually asked the taller Gem. “Garnet, you know that I trust you, but are you sure we can’t leave this to the humans? I’m sure they can take care of the situation.” 

When Garnet told Pearl that they had to postpone the search for Steven, she couldn’t believe what the older Gem was saying. She wanted to yell at Garnet when she noticed that Garnet was clutching her shaking hands. That was when Pearl understood that the decision was not an easy one for Garnet to make. 

That still doesn’t mean that she didn’t feel a weird feeling in the gem in her forehead. It pains her severely that she would not be able to reunite with Steven earlier than she had hoped.

“You know that we _cannot_ afford the humans a chance to lose against their future foe,” Garnet said, with only a hint of any hesitation in her voice. Pearl could only grimace at the answer that the maroon Gem gave but only nodded at the answer.

Garnet looked out of the open side of Amethyst’s “door”, and nodded to herself. “I’ll go on from here myself. You two, you keep going on ahead, and find Chris as fast as you can! And do not take your opponents lightly. Understood?”

“Understood,” Pearl affirmed.

“Got it G. Don’t worry about it!” Pearl and Amethyst confirmed to their leader. With a nod, Garnet jumped outside the “door” and onto a nearby building’s roof.

Then Amethyst smirked and exclaimed, “It's time to save snowflake!” With the absence of Garnet’s weight, Amethyst moved faster by a marginal amount.

She continued flying at high speeds when she saw something in the far distance. “Hey, P, I think I see a Helicopter that looks like those government guys! Maybe it’s where she is?” Amethyst asked while flying towards it as fast as she can. 

Pearl looked out of the “door” and saw the same helicopter that Amethyst saw. Pearl recognized the helicopter as the same model that the Gems rode in with the two human girls.

“You’re right Amethyst! We must be getting on the right-” That was when a loud noise interrupted Pearl’s answer. To both of the Gem’s horror, the distant helicopter had exploded, leaving the debris to succumb to gravity.

“No...” Pearl could only whisper in shock while covering her mouth. Amethyst’s eyes were open with shock as well.

Over the millennia the Crystal Gems spent their time on their Earth, when their former leader, Rose Quartz, was with them, the Gems have seen many humans die. Sometimes, they had walked into the aftermath of a great disaster such as an earthquake. Sometimes, they stumbled onto the aftermath of a battle between two human groups, fighting until their enemy was dead on the ground.

Sometimes, it was by the jaws of a Corrupted Gem that they couldn’t get to before it could hurt innocent bystanders. Whenever the last one happened, it always haunted them. They had felt that if they had gotten there sooner, then maybe they could have saved the humans.

Now, a repeat of those moments was playing out before the Crystal Gem’s eyes.

“Damn it! I have to get there faster! We can’t let more people die!” Amethyst yelled to herself, forcing herself to move faster than she ever has before.

Pearl was taken out of her stupor at Amethyst’s curse. Pearl looked ahead and thought up an idea. “Amethyst, land on the building over there! We’re going to fuse! Opal is much faster than we are, and if our opponent is as strong as we think they are, we’re going to need all the help we can get!”

Amethyst looked disgruntled that they had to stop, but followed Pearl’s suggestion, and flew down to a nearby rooftop. When Pearl got out of her, Amethyst turned back into her base form. “Let’s do this quick, we don’t have the time!” She said, already beginning her part of the dance. Amethyst form of dancing was the form was breakdancing.

”I couldn’t agree more.” Pearl said while doing her dance. It was in a style similar to a ballerina dancing on a stage. The two Gems were dancing in sync, and eventually, Pearl allowed herself to fall into Amethyst's waiting arms. Soon, the two Gems glowed a bright light similar to a star. The two Gems’ forms were then morphed into a taller figure.

Eventually, when the light dimmed, in the two Gem’s place was a woman with periwinkle blue skin and four arms standing at an impressive seven feet tall. The new Gem had long, fluffy hair that was tied behind her back. 

The new Gem opened her eyes, which were filled with a sense of purpose. She looked at the nearby buildings, and after a moment of consideration, summoned two purple whips in both of her top arms. She swung the whip in her left arm towards a building, attaching the end to the structure. 

After making sure that the building can handle her weight, the woman allowed herself to fall from her perch, swinging from one building to another with each whip. With each swing, it brought the fusion to the battle. 

The fusion of the two Crystal Gems, Opal, sped through the city at high speeds and headed towards the distant explosion.

XXXX

Chris hates to admit it, but she was having a tough fight with this new foe. Her enemy was a wavy-haired, mannequin-like woman wearing a brown cardigan with gold sleeves. Her inhuman flexibility and speed made it difficult to even get a bead on her. And to make matters worse, she had the feeling that this woman was showing off.

Currently, Chris’s Symphogear was active, replacing her civilian clothes with her armor. Her armor was red, maroon, and white. Wing-like plates were attached to her hips. Currently, Chris was wielding a crossbow-like gun in her hands, shooting her laser crossbow bolts towards the woman.

Every time that Chris had shot her ammunition towards the woman, the enemy would just shoot coins at the bullets, negating her attacks. She even caught a couple of her crossbow bolts, infuriating Chris even more. 

That made everything feel better when she had finally managed to score a hit on the enemy with her **MEGA DEATH PARTY** attack, sending out missiles towards the woman, making a cloud of smoke.

While most people would have thought the battle was over at this point, Chris knew that her opponent would not have gone down so easily. Tired already of her enemy, Chris yelled out, “Stop screwing around and show yourself already!”

Just as Chris thought, the woman in yellow had survived the barrage completely intact. She was able to defend herself by using a gold barrier. Without a word, the enemy let down her shield and shot more coins at Chris, forcing the young woman to dodge each shot. Then, she jumped in the air to dodge the next round of projectiles.

While she was in the air, she was contacted by Tomosoto on her earpiece, who urgently said, “Chris-chan, you have to hold on! Help is on your way!”

That made the white-haired girl slightly confused. Hibiki was busy evacuating the civilians from the fire, and Kirika and Shirabe weren’t able to use their Symphogears without LINKER. Chris landed on the ground and was about to ask who was coming to help when she heard a young girl’s voice cry out, “Watch out!”

Chris whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Seeing a shadow on the ground, Chris looked up at the sky. There, in the sky above her, were multiple boats falling, with a shadow of colossal being as tall as a skyscraper behind them.

Chris was about to dodge the boats when she felt something wrap itself around her stomach. Before she could react to what was happening, someone pulled her away from the falling boats, which then exploded into a fiery inferno.

When Chris got her bearings from what happened, she was in the arms of a tall woman with blue skin. Instinctively, Chris pointed her crossbow at the woman, her finger on the trigger, her eyes narrowed. The woman might be an enemy. With suspicion in her voice, Chris asked. “Who the hell are you!”

The tall woman only smiled down at Chris, and let the girl down onto her feet gently. “My name is Opal. Do not worry, I am an ally!”

With hesitance in her stance, Chris lowered her crossbow slightly. “Fine, say that I believe you. Where did that woman in yellow go!?” She asked while looking for any signs of where the first strange woman went, but she couldn’t find her. The woman must have used the boats as a distraction. 

Looking back up to the woman, Chris asked the woman, “Did you warn me of the attack?” 

Before the tall woman could answer, the voice of a young girl came from behind the woman. “No, that would be me.” 

When the two women turned around they saw a young girl wearing nothing but an open robe and underwear, clutching a brown box tightly as if her life depended on it. “Are you okay?” The girl asked Chris, gesturing in a way that exposed her more.

Chris blushed when she saw the girl’s lack of clothing. “What happened to your clothes?!” She shouted angrily.

Ignoring Chris’s inquiry of her clothes, the young girl asked both Chris and Opal, “Who are you two?”

Chris panicked at the young girl’s question and attempted to hide her face in her elbow. “I’m Little Red Singing Hood, I have no-”

“Her name is Yukine Chris, and you may call me Opal,” Greeted the tall lady with a wave of one of her four arms.

“What the- who told you that you can tell my name to her!?” Chris complained with anger in her voice. She didn’t want her identity or affiliation with SONG revealed to a civilian child. Then she realized something. She looked up at the strange woman, and asked “Wait, how do you know my name!?”

Before Opal could give Chris her answer, the young girl interrupted the woman. “You are the wielder of the Ichaival Symphogear correct?” She asked. Then, she looked up at Opal, tilting her head at the blue woman. “I don’t know who you are, but hopefully you can help me with my mission.”

Chris’s eyes twitched at the girl’s deductions. _‘What's the point of a secret identity if everyone knows who I am anyway?’_ Shaking her head free of the thought, Chris looked at the young girl, her eyes signaling to continue. “Who are you though?” 

The young girl took off her hood, revealing her sky-blue eyes and green-tinted hair. She looked at the two women with seriousness in her eyes. “My name is Elfnein. I have been looking for you and your friends to help me protect the world from Carol’s alchemy.” 

Chris and Opal could only stare at the strange girl with questions in their eyes. “Alchemy?” They asked her at the same time. 

XXXX

The flames of the apartment’s fire roared in the background, but that inferno was nowhere as intense as the confrontation taking place. In the midst of the smoldering ash, a showdown between Tachibana Hibiki and the mannequins’ leader and creator, Carol Malus Dienheim, was taking place. 

Carol didn’t look like much. On the surface, she looked like a blonde, middle school-aged girl with sea-blue eyes cosplaying as a witch. Her blue and white wizard’s robe and red and black witch’s hat looked comical. But her hatred and her power made underestimating her a fatal mistake.

Carol was frustrated at the insolent, naive little brown-haired girl that dared to question her. The girl couldn’t even understand that Carol had a cause worth all the memories that she had lost already. That she had a good reason to shatter the world. The stupid girl would not activate her Symphogear, not even to defend herself from Carol’s onslaught of attacks! She was kneeling below her in a crater from her first attack, wounds covering the girl’s body.

Carol couldn’t understand it. Tachibana was willing to use her Symphogear to fight in the battle of Kadingir and the Frontier incident. She had fought powerful foes and triumphed. But she couldn’t do the same here, even if it meant her death!? 

Carol was charging for her next attack, with golden glyphs floating around her. She was unconcerned with the charge up time since Tachibana was unwilling to even defend herself. 

In a voice that trembled with desperation, Tachibana looked at Carol with shaky eyes and shouted, “But… when I saw you before, you were crying!” Carol’s eyes narrowed when Tachibana revealed that she saw Carol’s moment of weakness. “So… I don’t want to fight you! I want to know why!”

Before, Carol was merely frustrated that the stupid girl didn’t even don her Symphogear, but the revelation that she had been seen had made Carol infuriated. Clenching her teeth, Carol glared at the teenager, and seethed, “You spied on me… you invaded my privacy…“

Carol was so blinded by anger that she almost missed something coming from the corner of her eye. Almost being the keyword here. She immediately deactivated her attack and jumped a fair distance away from a fist donning a gauntlet.

That was when Carol heard Tachibana yell out from the crater, “Garnet-san!? What are you doing here? You could get hurt!”

When she focused on what she was looking at, she slightly raised an eyebrow at the sight that befell her vision. There was a tall, maroon woman wearing shades that prevented her eyes from being visible. The woman retracted her fist to look at the smaller girl, shifting into a stance.

“Sorry Hibiki, but I cannot allow you to get any more hurt than you already have! Just take a rest, okay?” Garnet smoothly said to the panicking girl. She never took her eyes off of Carol as she said it.

This “Garnet” was not in any of the information that she had acquired about S.O.N.G at all! Carol had accounted for the squad’s commander, Genjuro Kazanari, who was reportedly strong enough to fight off Finé, the woman who built Kadingir and the one responsible for the Moon’s sorry state. Carol had made her plan specifically to never be in a position to be in a one-on-one encounter with the man without having many advantages in her favor.

But this “Garnet” proved that the information given had not been accurate or at least not up to date. Carol couldn’t help but wonder if this strange creature was made with Alchemy like her Autoscorers and Elfnein were. If so, her creator was certainly eccentric. They hadn’t even tried to make it look human.

With an annoyed look on her face, Carol pointed at the newcomer. “What are you, and what is your goal here, creature!?” She demanded with a snarl. She hated unknowns and wished to recertify her knowledge immediately.

Garnet looked at Carol and with a small shrug. With a stoic look on her face, Garnet answered the Mastermind with a loud voice booming with bravado. 

“Very well. I am a Guardian, tasked with defending the planet from the likes of you! I am a Crystal Gem!”


	5. Chapter 5

Song of the Crystal Gems Chapter 5

The sound of clashing metal rang throughout the darkness of the night sky and pierced the dull humming of London's traffic. Two women exchanged precise strikes. Each aimed at the other's openings, only for the other’s blade to deflect it.

Tsubasa hated to admit it, but her opponent was as skilled as she was tenacious. Phara's attacks flowed from one to the other, as if she were dancing in line with the music. But at the same time, inhumanity marred her beautiful sword style. Phara's limbs bent beyond what a human could hope to achieve, making a stance impossible for a human to emulate. It was effective but uncanny.

Tsubasa jumped away from Phara, and swung her sword in the air in a flash. A sharp gust of glowing blue air flew towards the mannequin. It was her **Blue Flash** attack, a blue wave of energy created by slashing the air. It was sharp enough to cut through steel and the Noise alike as if they were butter.

But Phara blocked the attack with a one-handed sword. As she did so, a smug grin crossed her porcelain face. “It looks like that is all you have. I knew I was stronger than you, but this display is pathetic.” The mannequin taunted while leaping towards Tsubasa and clashing with the blue-haired girl’s sword. The force of the attack launched the two towards the street.

Tsubasa gritted her teeth, the force of Phara’s attack threatening to snap her katana in two. Thinking quickly, Tsubasa kneed Phara in the stomach. The force of the attack allowed Tsubasa to launch herself away from the woman and onto the bridge. Tsubasa glared at Phara before spreading her arms like wings, her lips moving to a song.

 **_I solemnly close my eyes in a moment of calm, and sheath the blade which I live by_ ** **_  
_** **_Due to my mastery of dueling, you'll now sleep without ever knowing you've died_ **

Phara saw glints of blue light in the reflection of her sword. Looking up, the Autoscorer saw blue blasts of energy in the shape of javelins coming towards her like a hailstorm.

It was Tsubasa’s **One Thousand Tears** attack, which was aiming to skewer her. Phara smirked. “The lyrics that you are singing; they are wrong about one thing! You are no master of the blade!”

Phara dashed around the street to dodge Tsubasa's attacks. The storm of blades exploded on impact with the streets, kicking up debris. But Phara weaved around the blades with her dance, deflecting every javelin that she couldn’t dodge.

With an evil smirk, Phara’s palms opened up to launch many crystals out of her and onto the street. The crystals cracked when they hit the pavement. Then, red portals formed all around her, and familiar monsters with grid-like faces popped out of them.

Tsubasa narrowed her eyes at the sight of the monstrosities, raising her katana parallel to the street. “How are you able to summon the Noise!?" She scrutinized Phara. "We destroyed them all in the Treasury of Babylonia!”

Phara smiled evilly at the Symphogear adaptor, pointing her sword at the warrior. “If you want to know how they were made, I will gladly tell you... if you beat me, that is!”

Tsubasa grunted at the declaration but complied with her wish. She began running at the woman in the green dress, slashing at any unfortunate Noise that got in her way.

 **_How would you like your name on your gravestone? Tell me now_ ** **_  
_** **_A stanza from the death poem for your agony says: ah…it was inevitable_ **

Tsubasa cut through the Noise with perfect slashes. When one of them tried to cut her down, she jumped back into a handstand. She then spun around, her leg-blades scything through her opponents.

After clearing a good chunk of the opposition, Tsubasa landed back on her feet, only to see a red Noise with a glowing arm lunging towards her. Tsubasa was about to guard with her sword but remembered the warning she received from Ogawa. This new type of Noise could destroy their Symphogear’s armor.

Deciding to take caution, Tsubasa instead dodged under the red Noise’s arm. She then lunged upwards, swinging her sword upwards towards the Noise’s arm, severing it from its body. While in the air, Tsubasa then aimed her katana downwards towards the Noise’s face, piercing right through it.

Before Tsubasa could pull her sword out of the dissolving monstrosity, she was hit by a strong gust of wind from the side, blowing her off the bridge and into the Thames River.

From the generator’s rooftop, Maria looked on in horror at the sight of her partner being blown into the river. Maria screamed at the river in a panic, yelling out, “Tsubasa!! Don’t you dare give up on me!” while climbing down the roof from a ladder on the side of the building.

Phara looked over the railings of the bridge and into the darkness of the river with a cold look on her face. With an annoyed look on her face, Phara responded, “And here I thought that you were just a pretty face. It seems that there is some intelligence somewhere in that head of yours.”

She pointed her sword at the water. At her silent command, the Noise jumped off the bridge, falling into the water in search of the warrior clad in white and blue armor.

Down in the murky waters of the Thames River, Tsubasa reoriented upwards, holding her breath the best she could. She tried to make her way up to the surface, but she saw some inhuman shadows illuminated from the streetlights above.

Knowing that it was likely the Noise, Tsubasa summoned a katana to slash her way through to get to the surface. She cut the first Noise that attacked in half, turning it into red mist in the water.

Tsubasa was about to reach the surface when the water around her began spinning at high speeds, taking the warrior along for the ride. This shocked Tsubasa, who wasn’t expecting to be lifted into the air. Shouting out in surprise, Tsubasa yelled out, “W-What is this?”

The water rose from the river’s surface, creating a small water spout. The Noise that was already in the river was there for the ride, rotating around in the water spout.

Phara smirked at Tsubasa’s reaction. With her aerokinesis, making a typhoon to lift the Symphogear user into the air was child's play. Now, the blue-clad warrior was vulnerable to the Noise rushing in with the waterspout’s current.

But Tsubasa defied her expectations when she threw a sword into the air, which became larger. The sword then fell back down into the water sprout, gliding along with it. Tsubasa quickly climbed on, balancing on it as if it was a surfboard. This way, she could act without having to fight against the current.

That wasn’t the only thing that Tsubasa did though. Tsubasa took a deep breath, then spread her arms. Spears of blue light appeared once more, flying through the water as if they were torpedoes. They flew around faster than the Noise could swim through the airborne whirlpool, piercing through the Noise from behind.

 **_Traces of the howling wraiths stretch madly beneath the moon_ ** **_  
_** **_Tonight, I feel pity for the sharpness of my fangs_ **

As much as Phara loathed to admit it, that was an impressive move from the singer. But she still had to finish her part of the plan. “My goodness. You keep defying my expectations, I’ll admit. But it's about time we ended this,” Phara said coyly. She then dispelled the tornado, causing the water to fall back down towards the river and creating waves.

Tsubasa rode her sword-surfboard and glared down at the mannequin. “I have to agree. Let us finish this bout!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Phara saw Maria arriving at the bottom of the ladder, who then looked out towards the battle at hand. That gave her an idea that could end the battle here.

With a sadistic smirk, Phara rushed towards Maria, who looked shell-shocked at what was going to happen. Without her Symphogear, Maria didn’t have any hope of dodging in time.

Tsubasa’s eyes widened when she saw what Phara had in mind. Tsubasa yelled out in alarm for her partner, “MARIA!”

With the speed of a sonic boom, Tsubasa jumped off her sword and towards the path Phara was taking, using her sword to block Phara’s own. But she had already fallen for Phara's trap.

Phara had deliberately slowed her attack so that Tsubasa could block it in time. When Phara’s sword collided with Tsubasa’s, the warrior’s sword shattered into pieces.

“Sword Breaker. A conceptual weapon that shatters any sword there is,” Phara explained, preempting Tsubasa's question. The calm of her voice did not match the sadistic joy of her expression.

The loss of her sword dumbfounded Tsubasa for only an instant, but that was all Phara needed for her finishing attack. Phara aimed her sword towards Tsubasa’s pendent, which housed Ame-No-Habakiri, Tsubasa’s Symphogear. A quick but hard thrust shattered the pendant and sent Tsubasa flying backward into Maria. Her Symphogear broken, Tsubasa's armor dissolved in Maria's arms, much to her horror.

At the sight of Tsubasa in Maria's arms, Phara shook her head in mock-disappointment. “Tsk, tsk. And here I thought you would be a worthy opponent. But that bout was over so quickly.”

Maria looked down her chest and saw Tsubasa unconscious on top of her. She glared as hard as she could towards Phara, “What is your goal here!? Why are you attacking us!?” Maria wanted answers from the woman responsible.

Phara shook her head in denial. “I don’t owe weaklings like yourself any explanation. Be content dying ignorant,” she said in a cold voice. Phara then pulled out her broadsword and pointed it in Maria’s direction, making the pink-haired woman grit her teeth in response.

Maria looked down at Tsubasa lying unconscious in her arms with regret in her eyes, _‘Tsubasa, I-I’m so sorry. If I wasn’t so weak, this wouldn’t have happened. Please, forgive me!’_

XXXX

Opal couldn’t for the life of her remember where she heard the word “alchemy” before. She knew that she doesn’t have the best memory, so it may be something that Amethyst or Pearl knew about.

She shook off her sense of deja vu when she heard Chris holding her hand to her ear, talking to someone. Currently, the trio of Opal, Chris, and Elfnein was near a bridge, illuminated by the street lights. Chris was yelling into her headset, asking Tomosato,” What do you mean _Garnet_ is fighting with the enemy? And if Garnet is the one fighting them, then where is Pearl and…”

Chris’s eyes widened when she started to say the two’s names. Chris looked closer at Opal. With the light coming from the streetlights, Chris was now able to see two gems on her chest and forehead. The same two she had seen a few days ago, if differently colored.

“Pearl? Amethyst? Is that you? How did you get like that?” Chris questioned Opal, causing the four-armed woman to smile down at the white-haired teenager.

“It’s quite impressive that you caught on so quickly. The answer is yes and no, Chris.” Opal answered the white-haired teenager, who looked confused.

Elfnein wanted to ask Chris who Pearl and Amethyst were, but decided there were more important things to worry about. She saw Opal's eyes looked upwards and widened. Elfnein looked at what she looked at and gasped.

In the blink of an eye, the giant newcomer scooped Elfnein and Chris into her arms and jumped. Elfnein caught glimpses of some golden projectile raining down on the spot the three of them were standing on. The resulting explosion created a dust cloud that obscured her vision.

Chris jumped out of Opal’s arms while giving Opal a small nod, “Thanks for the save. But it looks like we have trouble coming this way, so look sharp!”

The dust cleared, revealing an ominous red outline with a black center at the point of impact. The Noise appeared out of the circle and began charging towards the three of them. Chris looked over her shoulder and looked at Opal with the look of authority in her eyes. “Stand back and protect Elfnein! I’ll handle these guys, got that?”

Opal nodded, and held Elfnein between her bottom left arm and her chest, securing the girl from harm. Seeing Opal protecting Elfnein, Chris smiled and turned back at the charging Noise with a wide grin on her face. Her lips moved to a rhythm as she formed chain guns attached to her forearms.

 **_A discount sale of lead bullets just for you, as nothing else cures stupidity_ ** **_  
_** **_It's time for the rodeo, baby; the pistol fire party is starting, so get yourself dancing_ **

Chris began shooting bullets out of her chain guns. The bullets soared through the air, before reaching their targets, tearing the Noise apart like they were a wet newspaper. Each bullet eviscerated several Noise at once. But they kept coming without end.

Chris ran along the outside of the perimeter of the collection of Noise, shooting any that try to escape her wrath. Some of the Noise try to stretch themselves over Chris’s barrage of attacks to reach Chris, but the red warrior slid onto the ground and under the attacks and shot the Noise from below.

 **_Long-range or short-range, it doesn't matter_ ** **_  
_** **_So long as these hit you_ ** **_  
_** **_It's a base-filled homerun, so start praying_ **   
******_Let me look cool, baby_**

While Chris was eliminating her enemies, Opal watched her with both disbelief and amazement. She had never seen a human as proficient in combat as the human she was watching right now. But out of the corner of her eyes, she saw some more Noise coming from the bridge. The Noise was outside of Chris’s view, unable to see the danger lurking above her.

Chris jumped over a stretching Noise, shooting the attacker when she saw a single white arrow flying above her. Sparing a second to look, she saw the single arrow split into several smaller arrows, piercing through the Noise hidden on the bridge above her.

Chris looked down towards where she left Opal to see the Gem in question holding a bow the size of Chris’s body, the tall gem looking like she had released the string on the weapon. Elfnein was on the ground, standing close to Opal’s legs.

Chris’s eyes widened when she realized that Opal saved her from the surprise attacks.

That should have been impossible, Noise _couldn’t_ be destroyed without a Symphogear on hand! But the Gem proved that she could destroy Noise, making Chris wonder exactly what else they can do.

Chris then shook her head free of these thoughts. She had to focus on the battle now, she could ask questions later. She nodded her head in thanks towards Opal and began mowing down the Noise once more. But this time, she had help from Opal.

Eventually, a Noise had managed to get past both their bullets and arrows and was about to strike the human. Chris didn’t have enough time to dodge, so she raised her gun to block the attack, confident that she’ll be fine. But Chris felt a familiar feeling around her waist and was pulled towards Opal by a purple whip.

This time, Chris was ready, and so managed to land on her feet next to the four-armed woman and Elfnein. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but what gives? I could have blocked that!” Chris asked the taller woman, who put her top right hand on her chin, in thought.

“I’m sure that Pearl and Amethyst know better than I do, but I have a feeling you shouldn’t touch those monsters,” Opal explained, a bit confused herself. She didn’t have the best memory, so she easily forgot important information.

“W-wait, but how would _they_ know that?” Chris asked, wanting to know how the Gems knew when they didn't even hail from this Earth. Chris then saw more Noise coming towards the three of them, and so pointed her guns toward their direction, preparing to shoot.

“That is a matter for a different time,” Opal answered when she saw the Noise approaching, readying her bow. Elfnein stepped back to let the two fighters have enough space to fight.

“Look out!!” Elfnein shouted while pointing out into the night sky.

Chris spotted a familiar glint of gold flying at them at high speeds. She raised her arm to aim the chain gun and fired at the gold coins speeding towards their location. The bullets collided with the coins, causing an explosion that created a large smoke cloud.

Coming out of the smoke was Leiur, clad in her golden clothing. Landing on her feet, Leiur posed at the three on the sidewalk, causing the two fighters to aim their weapons at the mannequin.

“I am surprised,” the Autoscorer said in a dull, unemotional tone. “I had thought this would be an easy fight, but it appears that I was wrong.” Then, with her visible eye narrowed on two enemies before her, she raised her hands and said, “Let’s fix that.”

Leiur then shot gold coins at both Chris and Opal at the speed of a shot gun’s shrapnel, forcing Chris to block the shots with the chain guns attached to her arms. Meanwhile, Opal summoned a white spear from her forehead and spun it at high speeds, deflecting the coins. The two of them struggled to defend themselves and Elfnein from the onslaught of gold coins.

Some of the Noise from before were closing in on the three of them as well. However, neither Chris nor Opal could move from their positions, or else Elfnein would get hurt. Chris cursed herself. “Damn it, what do we do!? We’re sitting ducks like this!” She shouted in desperation.

_Zeios Igalima raizen tron_

The sound of a young girl singing brought the attention of the three fighters. Leiur looked in the direction of where she heard the song coming from, only to duck backward. A green scythe passed over her body, the blade mere inches from her face. Leiur jumped away from the attacker to get some room.

The newcomer was a young high school-aged girl with blonde, messy hair, and was wearing green and black armor. On her head, she wore a witch's hat. The girl grew a wide grin while looking back at Chris, Opal, and Elfnein, putting her hand on her head in a salute. “Don’t worry, the calvary is here, dess!” The girl then flinched as green lightning coursed through her body, shocking her.

“What are you doing here Kirika!? I thought I told you to go home! And you’re using your Symphogear without LINKER no less!” Chris yelled at Kirika while lowering her impromptu shield. She then put a palm to her face when she realized something. “And if you’re here, then that means Shirabe is here, isn’t she?”

That was when a twin-tailed, black-haired girl rolled in wearing pink and black armor and roller skates. The girl skated into the battlefield, slicing through the Noise with pink and black buzzsaws. But the action caused pink lighting to flow along her body as well, causing the girl to groan in pain.

Even so, Shirabe forced herself to roll her way over to Chris, her face showing worry, “Senpai, are you okay? And who are these people?” She asked while looking at both Opal and Elfnein in question. Chris didn’t seem to be too on guard around the two of them.

Chris pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. “I’ll introduce you to each other later. Get out of here before you hurt yourselves any more than you already have.”

Kirika hopped back at Chris’s location, with a look of denial on her face. “We’re not going to do that, senpai! We can’t just leave you here. I'm sure we can win if we all worked together!” Kirika shot back, refusing Chris's order. Shirabe nodded her head in agreement with Kirika.

As the girls talked, Leiur stared at them, studying their movements, waiting for a good moment to strike.

Chris was about to argue more with the two of them when she felt an arm on her shoulder. She looked up to see Opal shaking her head. “While I admire your desire to protect them, they _will_ fight even if you try to stop them. You might as well let them join us.”

Chris grunted in frustration, but she knew that Opal right. Kirika and Shirabe are too set in their ways to turn around now. “Fine, but we have to end this quick, alright!? You two can’t be in that armor for too long!” She ordered the two girls, who both nodded towards Opal in appreciation for convincing Chris.

In response to the four fighters teaming up, Leiur threw out enough crystals to equal a bowling ball in size if put together. When the crystals broke, more Noise appeared, while Leiur pulled out more coins between her fingertips, ready to fire them.

XXXX

Carol would have to admit it. If she was an average human, she wouldn’t stand a chance against Garnet’s combat prowess. Good thing she wasn’t an average human child anymore. She dodged Garnet’s first punch and floated away from her.

Deciding to end the fight as quickly as possible, Carol conjured a red glyph in the air. A red-hot blaze of fire shot from it towards the Crystal Gem. Carol fully expected Garnet to dodge or even block the attack. Yet to her surprise, the woman jumped into the inferno without any hesitation. The black smoke of debris came from the destruction of the street Garnet used to be on.

This caused Hibiki to yell out, “G-Garnet-san! W-why…” in despair. Why would her savior jump into an attack? That would be suicide! And after making such a big entrance as the Gem had doesn’t make sense! Unless…

Carol made a shield glyph in front of her. It was just in time too, since Garnet’s fist came out of the smoke, clashing against her energy shield. 

Carol looked more closely and saw that the arm that the fist was attached to was longer than it was before. _‘So, she can change her body’s shape at will? Interesting…’_

The smoke cleared and revealed that Garnet was unhurt from the attack earlier, with nary even a burn on her. The Gem ground her teeth in frustration. She had failed in her attack, so she had lost her chance at taking out the mastermind right then and there. She pulled back her arm, returning it to its original position.

That was when Garnet turned to block a surprise attack from behind. The ice shattered when the attack contacted Garnet’s gauntlets. Carol was a bit annoyed that her Autoscorer was unable to end the strange woman.

“W-Where did she…” Hibiki questioned, not seeing the new enemy approach until it was almost too late.

The new fighter was one of her Autoscorers, Garie. She was pale like the others but had her short brown hair tied up by a headband and wore a beautiful blue dress.

Carol had Garie in position close to her location for three reasons. One reason was to gather memories to fuel her Autoscorers. Another was to eliminate anyone spying on them. 

The third reason Garie was close by was in the event she needed back-up. Carol is really glad that she came up with the back-up plan. While Carol was confident that she could defeat Garnet, she didn’t want to lose any more memories than she needed.

Currently, Garie jumped back with a glare when her attempt at a surprise attack failed. She tried to pierce the woman’s back with her hand covered in an icicle, but she underestimated the durability of Garnet’s gauntlets. 

The glare that was on the Autoscorer’s face soon turned into a bloodthirsty grin. “My, my, we have a fighter here, don’t we? That'll just make it all the more satisfying when I see you look on in despair as I destroy you!”

That was when from deep underground, a fountain of water broke through the asphalt of the street, pipes stuck out from the ground while spraying high-pressure water. 

The attack caught Garnet by surprise. The fountain hit the Gem by her chin while sending her high into the air, a look of pain on her face.

Garie smiled at the sight and stepped into the rushing water from the pipes. She used her hydrokinesis to make the water rush out even faster than before to push herself up at high speeds towards Garnet, forming another sharp icicle in her hand.

“G-Garnet-san! I-I’ll try to help!” Hibiki yelled out in worry. She can’t just stand by and do nothing anymore when Garnet needs her help. She hesitantly grabbed her Symphogear pendant, Gungnir, and tried to sing the words to it.

But nothing came out of her mouth. The words just won’t come to her like it did so many times before. “H-Huh? W-Why won’t it…” Hibiki asked herself, holding her pendant in front of her face, disbelief showing. Hibiki even tried to force the lyrics to come out of her mouth, but it was for naught.

She didn’t understand why she couldn't make herself transform to save Garnet, who was flying in the air, about to be attacked by a sadistic-looking Garie.

Just as when Garie was about to strike the Gem’s chest, Garnet reoriented herself in the air to face Garie. She twisted her body out of the way of the attack and grabbed Garie’s wrist. 

Before Garie could get her arm free, Garnet twisted her body once more and threw the surprised Autoscorer towards the street below them. The impact created a crater and a cloud of debris and dust. 

Garnet touched the earth with her feet, and took a defensive stance, waiting for the dust to settle before making another move. 

From the cloud of dust came the sound of a music box’s gears turning.“I thought tonight would be a fun night with Master, but you just had to come and ruin it, didn’t you?” Garie seethed with irritation.

Garie came out of the crater, no worse for wear except for some dirt stuck on her clothes. She did, however, have a look of pure fury donning her porcelain face. She motioned her hands in the air, making another blue glyph, about to manipulate the water around the two when Carol yelled out to her subordinate.

“Garie, that is enough. We will return home at this instant.” Carol coldly ordered Garie, to which the Autoscorer reluctantly followed. Carol pulled out a teleportation crystal. 

But as the young-looking blonde was about to crush it onto the ground, Garnet ran at her as fast as a speeding race car, with a look of urgency on her face. “I am not going to let you get away!”

Carol’s eyes widened, not expecting the Gem to know what the crystal does. She thought back to her previous theory, on if Garnet was made from Alchemy, making her eyes narrow. ‘ _If I am correct, she knows of the crystal’s teleportation ability from her creator. Che, how annoying…’_

But before Garnet could reach Carol, Garie’s condescending voice came out from behind Garnet. “I wouldn’t move any further if I were you.”

Garnet spared a moment to look behind her before stopping at the sight she was seeing. Garie had Hibiki in a vice grip and held an icicle up to the girl’s throat. The icicle was sharp enough that when it touched Hibiki’s skin, it cut through her skin, it made some blood come out.

“Now if you don’t want this girl’s blood on your hands, you _will_ let us go, got it?” Garie demanded, not negotiating with the Gem, but ordering her. 

Garnet hesitated before stepping away from Carol. The Alchemist nodded her head in silent thanks towards her servant before crushing the crystal onto the ground, covering the Alchemist in bright pink light. When the light faded, Carol was gone, leaving nothing behind.

Satisfied that her master was safe, Garie let Hibiki out of her grip and pushed the teenage girl onto the ground. Jumping away from Hibiki, Garie looked at Garnet with a condescending look on her face.

“Thank you for being a good girl! But I’m afraid that I’ll have to leave now.” Garie thanked sarcastically while pulling out her crystal and smashing it onto the ground, “Sayonara!” she said before disappearing as well. 

After a few seconds of making sure the two wouldn’t come back, Garnet jumped down from the street and into the crater that Hibiki was lying in. When the Gem touched down at the bottom of the crater, she was greeted by the sight of Hibiki struggling to stand up on her feet. 

“You’re hurt… Here, let me help you.” Garnet offered while giving out a hand in Hibiki’s direction. The brown-haired girl looked up at the alien with tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

“G-Garnet-san… I was useless out there, huh? I couldn't transform, and got myself caught in danger...” Hibiki asked, tears flowing out of her eyes, and onto her cheek. She hated the feeling of uselessness she was feeling right now, so she refused to accept Garnet’s hand.

Garnet didn’t know what to say to cheer Hibiki up, so she dispelled her gauntlets to pat the top of Hibiki’s head gently like she sometimes did to cheer Steven up. Hibiki sobbed in self-loathing, not registering the hand on top of her head. The sounds of wailing sirens soon drowned out her crying.

XXXX

Leiur didn’t want to admit it, but with the arrival of both Kirika and Shirabe, the battle would be more difficult than she anticipated. Now, the best she could hope for was taking out one of the Symphogears before escaping.

Shirabe made the first move. She shot multiple saw blades at the Autoscorer, threatening to cut her in half, forcing the Autoscorer to dodge. 

That was when two horizontal saw blades came into the path that Leiur was using, forcing her to jump in between the space of the saw blades. Deciding to use this opportunity, Leiur aimed her coins at Shirabe. 

That was when Kirika came rushing towards her while spinning into a green tornado of death. She was aiming her attack for Leiur’s position in between the saw blades. This forced Leiur to aim for Kirika instead, and shot her coins towards where she guessed where Kirika’s head would be.

It was successful, and the blows managed to daze Kirika long enough for Leiur to escape from the saw blades, and onto her feet. 

When Leiur landed, however, she was then forced to jump out of the way of a red and white missile that she assumed Yukine Chris made. 

The missile exploded under her feet, making a large cloud of dust in the process. That made it impossible for Leiur to predict a purple whip reaching out from behind the cloud. The whip wrapped itself around her ankle, catching the Autoscorer by surprise. 

Before Leiur could try to get the whip off of her, she was flipped over Opal and was flying head-first towards the ground at high speeds. Leiur was barely able to break her fall with her arm. 

If Leiur was human, her arm would have been devastated from the force of the impact with the ground. But as she wasn’t human, her arm was intact, though Leiur could tell that her arm would need some minor repairs later.

Nevertheless, Leiur was able to detach the whip from her leg and retreated behind the Noise she had summoned earlier. At Leiur’s command, the Noise made their charge towards the four fighters and Elfnein. She also gave cover fire for the army, shooting coins towards her enemies.

Shirabe went in front of the group and summoned a saw blade big enough to use as a shield to block the coins. Pink lightning covered her body once more, making her cry out in pain. “Ahh!”

Shirabe faltered at the pain, but she then felt the familiar feel of Kiraka’s hands on her shoulders, supporting her against the hail of coins. “Don’t worry! I got you Shirabe!” Kirika cheered her on with a determined grin, ignoring the pain of using her Symphogear.

Shirabe smiled at the help she was getting from her second half. With Kirika’s help supporting the shield, she was able to stop the projectiles from getting through.

Chris and Opal were hiding behind Shirabe’s saw-shield. Chris looked over the side of Shirabe’s saw-shield and saw the Noise approaching, making her clench her teeth in distaste. She looked back at Opal, who was starting to fuse her whip and bow. That gave her an idea.

“Hey, how much weight can that thing shoot?” Chris asked while walking up to the fusion. Opal looked confused for just a moment before understanding what Chris was asking for.

“I see what you’re planning. Let’s get started!” Opal said with some excitement in her voice. She always wanted to try this, but there was never a good moment until now!

The Noise that Leiur summoned was almost at Shirabe’s saw-shield, so Leiur stopped shooting to find a better position. But as soon as she began running to a good vantage spot, Leiur saw something flying from behind the black and pink saw-blade.

Looking more closely, Leiur saw that it was Chris flying through the air, who flipped upside down with crossbows in her hands. Twirling around, Chris began shooting arrows down towards the Noise, who was in the process of attacking Shirabe’s shield when they were suddenly attacked from above.

Without the Noise, nor her barrage of coins at their doorstep, Shirabe stopped shielding them, and with Kirika at her side, started eliminating the remaining Noise that survived Chris’s airstrike. 

Leiur saw Opal aiming her bow at the sky, her hand drawn back as if she had fired something. Leiur then realized that she had fired Chris into the air with her bow. _‘That was an impressive tactic. I hadn’t seen that one coming,”_ Leiur thought begrudgingly.

Opal saw that Leiur was in a different position now, and so aimed her bow towards the Autoscorer. 

At this point, Leiur was losing her energy at a faster pace than she wanted. She had hoped that this would be a simple affair, but the simple addition of an unknown player changed their plans entirely.

Chris, Kirika, and Shirabe finished slaying the last of the Noise that Leiur summoned, and pointed their weapons in her direction.

Leiur was about to aim her coins at her enemies when Carol’s voice blared over their telepathic link. “Leiur, Phara, my orders are to retreat. We will revise our plan in person.” Carol ordered with thinly veiled anger in her tone. Leiur wanted to continue fighting, but she knew not to disobey orders, and so took out her teleportation crystal.

Elfnein’s eyes widened at the sight of the crystal. “You have to stop her from escaping!” She yelled, making everyone jump in alarm.

Before anyone could react, Leiur smashed her teleporting crystal onto the ground, a blinding pink light enveloped the mannequin, causing everyone to look away. When they looked back they saw nothing left of Leiur in the space she was previously occupying.

Chris ran up to the spot that Leiur was standing on, and yelled out in frustration when she saw that Leiur was truly gone. “Damn It! We were so close to beating her ass!”

Chris then turned around with an angry expression when she remembered something important. “Kirika! Shirabe! Get out of your Symphogears, now!” The white-haired girl ordered the two warriors while deactivating her own.

Kirika and Shirabe’s faces turned pale at the sight of Chris’s angry expressions. Gulping in fear, they deactivated their Symphogears in a flash of white light. When the light faded, they came out in their civilian clothing. All three of the Symphogears flinched in pain from the exhausting battle they had. “You two are fucking idiots, you know that? What were you thinking, using your armor without LINKER? You could have irreparable damage to your organs now!”

Kirika scratched the back of her neck in nervousness. “S-Sorry senpai! But when we saw the helicopter explode, we knew we couldn’t just sit by and do nothing!” The blonde answered with a sheepish smile. “On the plus side, we managed to fight back the enemy, didn’t we?”

Before Chris could continue to admonish the two of them, Shirabe managed to change the subject by asking, “Senpai? You still haven’t introduced us to these people?”

Chris rubbed her temples of her head in annoyance. “Yeah, I guess I should introduce you. This is-” That was when Opal began splitting into Pearl and Amethyst. Both of them fell to the ground in exhaustion. “Huh, I guess I was right. Opal was the two of you put together.” Chris stated to herself. This only confused Kirika, Shirabe, and Elfnein even more. 

“U-Um, is this the Amethyst and Pearl that you mentioned before?” Elfnein asked while holding her box close to her chest as if it was a comfort item.

That was when the purple-skinned woman looked up at the incredulous look on the three’s faces. With a shaky smile, Amethyst waved an arm at the three of them. “Yo! I guess we should explain ourselves, shouldn’t we?”

XXXX

“Leiur, Phara, my orders are to retreat. We will revise our plan in person.” Carol ordered over their telepathic link. Phara followed her master’s orders and lowered her sword. Phara looked at Maria condescendingly before digging into her sleeve.

“I do hope that you provide an adequate fight next time. This bout was quite disappointing,” Phara said while she took out a teleportation crystal. She then dropped it onto the ground and shattered it. A blinding pink light enveloped the mannequin, causing Maria to look away.

When the light faded, Phara was gone, leaving only the two girls behind on the street. Maria stood back up with her edge up, worried that Phara would come and attack. 

After a few minutes of nothing, Maria allowed herself to let her guard down. She then began to treat Tsubasa’s injuries the best she could, including using her concert outfit to cover Tsubasa’s private parts.

It was soon after that task was done that Tsubasa woke back up in a daze. Maria smiled in relief that Tsubasa was okay. “Tsubasa! You’re okay! Are you hurt anywhere?” Tsubasa smiled at the sight of Maria being worried over her.

“I think I’m fine, just a little sting that’s all.” The blue-haired idol sat back up and raised her pendent to check, She gasped in shock, alerting the pink-haired idol. Tsubasa turned to show Maria that her pendant was cracked, her eyes widened in shock. “With this broken, I don’t think I will be able to use my Symphogear anymore.” Maria could only look on in horror. Tsubasa now doesn’t have any defense against the Noise.

Tsubasa stood back up to use her communicator, to contact S.O.N.G. HQ to tell them that her Symphogear had been destroyed.

It was soon after that when UN agents came rushing down the streets in their cars. When they arrived they got out of their indiscreet vehicles and pointed their guns in the two idol’s direction. 

One of the agents began speaking, ”We’ve been briefed on the situation. However, Maria Cadenzavna Eve, the restrictions on your activity are still in place.”

Hearing the agent's words, Maria knew that she didn’t have another choice. She walked to Tsubasa and took her headpiece. Talking into the communicator, Maria talked to Genjuro. “Commander Kazanari, I’d like to formally request my transfer to S.O.N.G.! I may not possess a Symphogear of my own, but given this crisis, I can’t remain a false idol any longer!”

XXXX

When the Autoscorer clad in gold teleported into her podium, she knew that her master will be disappointed in her failure to destroy a Symphogeat’s pendant. But what Carol said next surprised even her.

“Leiur, I assure you that I am not disappointed in you. Through no fault of our own, we had received faulty information that had cost us the chance to destroy a Symphogear. Those strange creatures got in the way of our attack.”

That was when Phara decided to speak up. “Master, if I may speak, when I infiltrated the concert invisible, I overheard one of S.O.N.G.’s agents somehow got information from his headquarters that we will attack today and that the Alca-Noise can destroy their Symphogears.”

Carol narrowed her eyes when Phara gave her explanation, thinking it over. “That shouldn’t be possible. Not even the Illuminati knows of my true intentions with the Château de Tiffauges, so not even one of their defectors could have warned them.”

A look of realization crossed Garie’s face. “Oh! When I first entered the scuffle with the maroon woman, she sensed I was there even though I was sure that I had no presence to alert her. There is something off about her.”

Carol nodded in agreement to the mannequin’s deduction. Thinking it over, Carol made some theories in her head. “She might have heightened senses that can catch on to whatever may be trying to sneak up on her,” Carol thought aloud. “But that wouldn’t explain how they knew we would attack today. It also doesn’t make sense why they didn’t get Kazanari and Eve out of the concert hall sooner. Kazanari might’ve been able to escape with her Symphogear intact otherwise.”

Garie sighed in exasperation at the mystery that they are facing. She complained loudly, “I just wish we could have a fortune teller for this so he can tell us. This is just too much work for us to do.”

Carol’s eyes widened when Garie complained, forming a theory in her head. “That actually may be it! I have heard rumors that the Illuminati had been researching methods to predict the future. I had thought that it was a waste of time. But if these Crystal Gems are some kind of alchemical creation, it would explain how they knew about our attacks!”

The three active Autoscorers hooked onto Carol’s theory with awe on their faces. Garie had a big, proud grin at helping Master come to her theory even though she was just complaining.

Carol clenched her fist and looked up at the ceiling. With a dark look of determination in her eyes, she yelled in defiance, “You have made an enemy today, Crystal Gems! I, Carol Malus Dienheim, will not be defeated by some parlor trick! Any future you predict, my alchemy will surpass and destroy!”


End file.
